Seven Knights
by Skykhanhunter
Summary: A stranger walking into Devil May Cry pitches our heroes into a chain of events which will lead to another adventure and, possibly, the end of the world! Stars Dante, Vergil, Nero, Lady, Trish, Lucia, Kyrie and some OC's
1. Chapter 1

New story! This one is a Devil May Cry story. I don't own any of the characters or places or weapons or anything related to the games. Just the plot, and my OC's. Please read and review!

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**A Visitor**

Dante Sparda lounged in his seat. His office, as usual, was chaotic. Papers, magazines, pizza boxes, empty cans, pieces of personal clothing, you name it, it was on the floor. And the tall, silver-white haired man sitting with his feet up on the desk, didn't care. Of course later on in the day Patty would visit him, as she always did, and would moan and groan whilst he nodded and made vague half coherent noises to let her know that he wasn't really listening. Then she would give up and start cleaning. That doesn't mean that he wouldn't pay her. Oh he would, but not in the way that she would like. It wouldn't pay for it to get out, but Dante was heavily involved in her mothers business of providing information to those who were looking to join the ranks of the Devil Hunters. Once a week Dante would go down there with his Devil Arms and give the wannabes a little taste of what Devil Hunting was like! A bit like a part time school teacher, he also would pass on any bit of work that required things like healing a wound caused by a devil weapon. These things were not the work of a slayer and were more suited to the likes of a power wielder like Patty's mom. In return Patty was allowed to keep visiting. And cleaning, something Dante let her do for free. In truth Dante mainly wanted to keep an eye on the child. Naïve or not, Patty was labelled for execution by several powerful devils. Her role in the Abigail problem had gotten out and the last thing any devil generals or knights wanted, was someone like her who would get into trouble with them and inexplicably win. So, like happened with Dante and Vergil, they tried to kill her before she could become a threat. So far, no good, her protection was too strong and all would be beaten back. So that was why he was content to sit and lounge in a chair, he owed her so much he couldn't complain when she did all this despite his not wanting the mess cleaned up.

Now would be a good time to describe the man in question. Tall, well over six feet, Dante has silver-white hair and electric eyes. He dresses almost entirely in red and black, so no prizes as to his favourite colours. Well muscled and toned he could easily be the object of any womans desire. In fact when you coupled his personality with his appearance you got a man who made women sigh and men fume. But he wasn't all that wonderful! He had a dark streak in him that attracted him, not only to danger, but to ultra violence. Sadistic pleasure was taken in gutting demons with massive swords. His personality also was a bad thing. Completely frivolous he hardly ever took anything seriously and would wisecrack all the way to the Underworld. Alive or dead Dante Sparda was an odd character. He was arrogant to a fault and always confident that he could take anything. Nothing scared him.

However, neither was he all bad. He had a deep concern for the human world and all it inhabitants. He understood them in ways others couldn't and he respected them. He was also a loyal friend and a great ally. He was also somewhat chivalrous in that he would always defend a lady, no matter how skilled she was. It had earned him many blows but beneath the cocky arrogant over-bearing and conceited surface was a strong willed, brave courageous self sacrificing and above all else caring person. But don't spread that around, it wouldn't do his reputation any good.

The bell over the doorway rang. Dante answered from under the magazine across his face automatically.

"If you want to use the restroom it's in the back. If it's you Patty, you're early, how are you, I'm very well thank you very much, the broom is in the closet under the stairs. Lady, Trish or possibly Lucia, be with you as soon as you laugh at my ridiculous intro, or in Lucia's case snort and give me the silent treatment. If it's either of my two brothers, don't slice me Verge, or hey kid how's it going, how's Kyrie? Sorry Nero. If you're a customer what's the password? If it's a demon, I'm busy getting some relaxing done, so call back later and I'll kill you then."

Silence. Not a word. Dante looked up.

Standing in front of him was a man. Tall, dark brown hair, medium breadth shoulders, wearing a dark blue trench coat, a white t-shirt, blue jeans and black boots. His eyes however were completely shrouded under his dark hair which hung like a veil in front of his face. He stepped forward and glanced around the room. Dante stood and walked round the front of his desk to meet him. As he did so he noticed two things which made him make sure Rebellion was in the room and Ebony and Ivory were in reach. The first was a huge broadsword strapped to the guys back. It was not as ornate as Rebellion, but it was functional and razor sharp. The second was a large pistol strapped into the cross draw position on the mans left hip. It too looked like it was perfectly functional. The man strode straight up to Dante and stopped maybe two feet away from him. Strangely Dante found that he didn't have to look very far down to have the little staring contest they immediately started. And those eyes were somewhat frightening. They were dark blue, very dark. If there was a colour to describe them it was Dark Ice! Worse still was the combination of smell, stance and resonance that came from Dante's devil side telling him that this was not a human. He was no devil either! Dante had never encountered an angel, but this didn't feel like one either. Whatever this guy was, he was unclassified. After a staring competition that lasted for almost half an hour the man spoke.

"So, you are as foolish as they say you are Dante Sparda!"

Dante blinked, (He lost the staring match at this point so he immediately started to resent the stranger), "What did you say?"

The stranger walked off with a casual swagger and replied, "Exactly what I said. That reception was a pitiful show of your lack of intelligence."

"Perhaps if you didn't like it then you should turn around and walk your ugly ass back through that door pal!"

"Please, it was entertaining. To say the least, it brought a smile to my face. Did you really collect all those Devil Arms?" he pointed through the wall.

Dante tensed, he knew where they were despite the fact they were on the opposite side of the wall! "Yes I did. Every single one. Mastered them all too!" that carried just a landslide of ego and pride behind it.

The stranger snorted in derision. "Not bad for a kid."

Dante narrowed his eyes until they were electric blue slits. "You're on dangerous grounds boy, and about to cross some lines! Especially since there is something really wrong with you!"

"Naturally you can tell devil boy! I would be very disappointed if you didn't. But I really haven't come here to trade banter with you, even if it is a good game. I want to see how good you are in a fight!"

Dante summoned Rebellion with one wave of his hand.

"Then you've come to the right place!"

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Again I say, Please review, pleeeeeeeeease!


	2. Chapter 2

Okay. Good news, bad news. Here is the next chapter. Bad news. I will only be able to update at the least once a week for the next four weeks. Sorry folks, but I have a repeat exam coming. Burn their mongrel hides!!

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**A Duel**

Instantly the two began to circle one another, Dante with Rebellion in hand and a cautious step, his opponent, with a casual grace that belied his dangerous nature. Suddenly both of them moved! In a swift motion the stranger drew his sword and the blades locked! His sword was long and broad but lacked any defining markings other than a space in the blade that ran for maybe a foot of its length. Nevertheless it had the strength to withstand Rebellions stroke with ease.

Dante felt a hand grab his collar and throw him right across the room! With a tremendous crash he hit the wall and landed in a heap at the bottom. Leaping up for the counter attack he flew into a stinger manoeuvre! The stranger dodged it with a quick step and began to block the strikes that Dante had begun to throw at him! Every single slash that Dante hurled towards the man was quickly angled away from him with careful precise parries! Swish, swish, swish and the sound of metal on metal filled the room! With one sweet move the stranger went from a one handed grip to a two handed and began his own assault. Dante had thought Vergil a lethal swordsman but this guy owned him!

The strokes were long and broad, seeming casual, while carrying a rapidity about them that outclassed everything that he had ever seen! Dante soon found himself being pushed to the limits of his capabilities! Once more he was beaten out of the way! As he stood, the stranger ran at him and leapt! One foot landed on his chest, the second cracked him on the chin and Dante sailed through the air! The stranger landed with a grace that evidenced his incredible skill! Dante leapt back towards him but the guy met him halfway and met steel with steel! With locked blades they landed on the floor, where the stranger threw the blade in the air and jumped! At head height his foot came round with a whistle of air! Again Dante was sent flying!

"Enough already!" he screamed!

Ebony and Ivory time! Bullets began to chop the air around the stranger who ducked and dodged out of the way! In a swift turn, grab and throw spin, he scooped up one of Dante's chairs and hurled it! With as snarl Dante was forced to shred the armchair. It had been nearly new too! As soon as the way was clear the guy was firing back with his own gun! With motions as smooth and rapid as a comet, Dante began to fire, his guns spitting fire and death from their customized barrels! This was his element, he was a gunslinger and he could outshoot anyone this side of the continent, probably the next one too, but he didn't like to brag. Oh wait he did. And yes for information he could outshoot everybody on the continent, and the next one and the next! He was the Dante we all know and love wasn't he!

Whilst his arrogant self praise was still on going he failed to realise that every single one of his shots was being deflected by the stranger who was firing one shot for every two Dante fired using ricochet to deflect both! They both began to move in a way that was calculated to give them maximum firing opportunities and minimum exposure to return fire! Dante flipped over his desk for use as cover and began top poke his head out every five or ten seconds and hopefully snap off a few shots at the stranger who would duck out of sight for a few moments before returning fire! This stalemate was no way to deal with the intruder, so the half devil did the first thing that came to mind. He stood and kicked his overturned desk straight at the sofa where his assailant was hiding!

Over the top came the stranger and he leaped just as the two objects collided! Not quickly enough! The force of the collision sent him flying and he smashed into one of the pillars face first! With a scrape of stone he slid off and landed in a heap at the foot. Dante ran in and didn't bother drawing Rebellion. He just punched! Now it was the stranger's turn to fly across the room. This time he hit Dante's drum kit. There was the customary crash of toms, a snare and a couple of cymbals falling as they landed on him. Finished off with a crash cymbal, just as he sat up.

"Ow. And everything was going so easily up until then." He stood and there was a clatter as everything landed on wooden floorboards. "You have officially impressed me Son of Sparda. Now!"

The bullet began to fly again, and in an incredibly bad streak of events for Dante Ivory was shot out of his hand! The two combatants matched each other bullet for bullet, unheeding the ones that they missed and that smashed into their flesh! Eventually they were face to face and began to try to knock the others hand and gun away, and shoot each other in the face! Every time Dante got a clear shot, the other would knock his gun away! It was all he could do to keep the muzzle of the other gun out of his face! The speed at which they moved meant that the casual observer would have seen nothing, but a blur! And lots of gun smoke! Dante caught sight of the others face and took note of the smirk on his face. It was all a game to him! Dante hadn't felt this angry since Mundus had injured Trish back on Mallet! In a surge of strength he battered the others hand aside and fired at his face!

Already in motion the stranger didn't react as the bullet hit him and tore its way across his cheek leaving a bloody streak on his face! He was standing with his gun pointed over Dante's right shoulder and Ivory poised over his left! He smiled in a cheeky way and lifted his left hand to his bloodied cheek. For a moment he looked at the blood. Then, with a swing of his jaw, the wound closed and all the blood retracted into his face.

"Think you were the only one devil boy?"

"You gotta be kiddin me!"

Dante spun away and grabbed up Ivory. The fusillade continued!

Out of nowhere the man raced like a streak of blue lightning over to the wall and in a quick movement ran up. Dante braced himself for when he would jump off and attack. But he didn't. He stopped and pointed his gun at Dante!

"How in blazes did you do that."

"Would you kill me if I said it was a natural talent?"

"That point is moot since I'm going to kill you anyway!"

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten that for a second there, thanks for the reminder."

"I meant it!"

"I intend to see that you do as little killing of me as possible!"

"Pity!"

The bullets continued to bounce off everything but the intended target. Then the stranger leaped straight down! Dante brought up Rebellion and the two blades clashed with a shower of sparks! Now the stranger really began to make full use of his powers. Blow after blow after blow rained down on the Devil Hunter who repelled them all to the best of his abilities. Suddenly the stranger caught Rebellion with his own sword, forced it down and smashed his fist into the hunters jaw! Dante hit the kitchen door at a huge speed and it cracked. He went through it and hit the fridge. Out of the wreckage came a flying bottle of soda. While it was still in motion the stranger brought his sword around. He took the neck off it in one swing, not even a microsecond lost in the movement. It then landed in the strangers outstretched hand and he took a long drink.

"Not bad," he said with a smack of his lips, "But it's not great root beer I can tell you. Anyway this battle is over. My thanks Mr. Sparda, it was most informative. I look forward to our next meeting."

He turned to leave and Dante came flying out of the mess, Rebellion at the ready.

"It's not over yet! Round two starts now!"

He lunged! The man turned, kicked the sword out of his hand into the air, turned again and elbowed him in the stomach! Dante slammed into the wall behind his desk. The man caught Rebellion as it came down, turned and rammed it through Dante all the way up to the hilt!

"It's over!" he walked to the door and pulled it open.

"Who the hells are you!" Dante screamed after him.

For a moment the stranger paused and considered this.

"You may know me as, Sentinel."

The doors closed. And Dante couldn't move.

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My thanks to all who have reviewed. If you have not doen so, then please do so now.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry about the delay on this, I've been on holidays. But here you are. Enjoy!

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**A Helping Hand**

Dante was still hanging out of the wall when Vergil and Nero showed up. Nero always came in on the train, having taken the boat from Fortuna to the mainland and the train from there to Capulet city and as always Vergil was there to meet him. It was the same every time. It all stemmed from the fact that Nero had Vergil's arm and for a while had had his sword. It was thanks to Vergil that Nero had the blood of Sparda and as a result the Eldest brother and the adopted half brother had a better friendship than either had with the middle child. Dante didn't really care. He was as always far too independent for all of that. It was also thanks to Nero that Vergil was alive at all. But that can be dealt with after the present events are dealt with.

Dante was, as has been said, still hanging from the wall on Rebellions blade, drumming his fingers on the edge, when the two men came in. The two blue coated white haired men barely noticed their brother hanging off his own sword up on the wall and that irritated him.

"Are you guys going to just stand there and chat or what?" Dante ground out.

The two looked at him and Nero burst out laughing, while Vergil just grinned.

"Dante Sparda, stuck up on the wall like one of his own trophies." He said, "I never thought I'd see the day."

Nero finished off with a gasp as he tried to catch his breath from laughing too hard. "We'd better get him down." He managed as soon as he could trust himself to speak. Vergil stopped him with one hand on his arm. "No."

Both of other two Spardas looked at askance at him. "Let me get my camera!"

"What!" Dante all but screamed, "Oh come on!" he started to struggle to get off the sword. All in vain however. Flash, flash, flash, three photos taken in rapid succession.

"These are going up on the net! I'm going to make a mint"

"Did you get in some shots of the other trophies?"

"Yeah I got three wide angle shots showing Dante up amongst them. I was thinking the title, "Doofus nails himself to the wall!", what do you think?"

"Vergil you ungrateful son of a… I swear I'll kill you if you do this!"

"Go for it. You could mention who he is as well if you want."

"Nero please I'll be your slave, I'll give you any of my weapons you like, I'll be your best man, which sounds kinda classy, means I get to make out with all the bridesmaids."

There was silence.

"What?" Dante asked.

Both of the other Sparda's snorted with laughter.

"We might just leave you up there until the day, just to keep you out of the way!"

Nero didn't like the way Dante leered at everything that was female. Most importantly Nero hated whenever Dante came to visit him and Kyrie in Fortuna. Half the time all his elder did was nudge his arm and wink. It was more than annoying, it was insulting. Unfortunately Kyrie never let Nero lose his temper with Dante, explaining very quietly to him that Dante was just lonely ever since Trish had set out to see more of the world and to do some further investigations. It had been ages before Nero had been able to finally work up the courage to ask Kyrie to marry him, especially since he was only twenty two. It would have been somewhat difficult for him to even propose since for the last time he had wanted to he was told that his being the adopted child could cause complications. It had been a happy day when Dante, in one of his better moods had told Nero that he was quite happy to let him take the surname Sparda, and formally register it with the Fortuna registrar. Thus it was established that Nero Sparda was to marry Kyrie Aegis in Fortuna Cathedral in one month's time. When some of the Order had tried to object Nero had called Dante who had quite happily come to visit. The fact that he showed up with the Sparda sword and in the triggered form meant that they quickly shut up about it. While they might argue with Spardas adopted son, they would not argue with his heir!

All this flashed through Nero's head and he sighed.

"We'd better get him down Vergil."

Vergil glanced at him and let his face return to its usual impassive state. "Oh alright then."

Vergil went to grab the hilt and stopped. "How'd you get up there anyway?"

Dante's face quickly darkened. "Don't ask!" he ground out.

Vergil shrugged. "Try to push off the cross guard and I'll pull the hilt."

Dante nodded. "One, two, three!"

They both pushed. And pulled. They pushed and pulled again!

"Come on Dante, push!" called Vergil.

"Yeah it's nearly out!" added Nero. They both looked at each other, then at Dante

"Don't say it!" he groaned.

"Say what?" asked Vergil, all innocence.

"I can just about see the head." was the deadbeat response. Nero snorted and his shoulders heaved. Vergil merely smiled.

"And again!" the twins tried, without success, to move the sword.

"This is presenting some strange kind of difficulty. Is this normal Dante?"

"I get stabbed with Rebellion every single big job, I should know how to get off my own sword Vergil!"

"Calm down. Getting angry is not going to help us." Vergil responded, icy cool in every situation. "You need to tell me how this happened before I can go about getting you down."

"No!"

"Well your choice is, stay up there or tell me and let me figure out a way to fix it."

Dante hung there for a few moments. "Okay," he said finally. "Can you promise me you'll never tell anyone else?"

Vergil smiled his small little smile. "On my word of honour as a Son of Sparda."

"What about you Nero?"

"I'll give you Red Queen if I do."

"Make it Blue Rose and you have a deal!"

Nero and Vergil sighed simultaneously. Their brother had a tendency to get off on the strangest tangents ever.

"No!" Nero said testily.

And so Dante proceeded to tell them the full story. Vergil didn't move and Nero stood there with his mouth open. When it was over he spoke.

"So these fifty guys all lined up and hammered Rebellion through you one at a time."

"Yeee…eaahh!"

Vergil replied. "How many were there really Dante?"

"Twenty."

"No."

"Okay ten I swear!"

"Come on Dante, we already said we'd never tell anyone." Nero added.

Dante shrank on the sword. "One."

The other two stared. One man had pushed a sword through Dante into the wall, so hard that it was standing up to both Dante and Vergil trying to move it.

"Nero."

"Yeah?"

"Can you absorb Rebellion?"

"I've never tried, but yeah I guess so. Dante would never let me try before." The last time he'd asked Dante had told him he'd shove Rebellion where the sun didn't shine "and then let's see you absorb it from there?" Nero hadn't broached the subject again! "Dante?" he asked.

"Just this once."

Nero reached out and his right hand closed around the hilt of Rebellion. He sought the power lurking in the blade, the hidden strength that was a sword of Sparda trademark. It awakened in his hand and the glow of his arm expanded to encompass the blade. In a swift flash it was gone and Dante slumped to the floor.

"Oh man that hurt!"

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It has been so long, but at last! Please review, more will be here soon.


	4. Chapter 4

My thanks to all reviewers and to answer your question, Eric Draven 201, well not a question but rather an unspoken query, the stranger will have his name revealed, but not just yet. This chapter should clear a few things up.

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**A Bit of History**

To understand why Vergil is ungrateful and why in fact Lucia does not want to talk to Dante ever again, we have to go back quite a bit. Lucia had been sitting in the main office of Devil May Cry flipping that coin incessantly, when she heard the sound of a motorbike pulling up. Upon reaching the door she discovered that it wasn't Dante at all. It was a woman dressed in a shirt and a pair of very short shorts with a plethora of weapons all over her person, not least a bazooka over her shoulder.

"Who are you?" came the question that sprang immediately to the red heads lips.

The woman looked up and it became clear that her eyes were off colour, one red and the other blue. "Who are you?" she replied, "And where's Dante?"

"In the Underworld. I'm Lucia by the way"

"What! That little son of a… He still hasn't paid me the two thousand he owes me for that last job!"

Lucia was a bit mystified at this last outburst.

"So he's in debt?" she asked tentatively.

"Oh yeah. With about everyone in this entire city, I don't know the entire details. You should ask Trish if you want the full story, she knows the guy way better than I do, she was living with him up until just after the Fortuna job! I'm Lady just to let you know. Lady the Devil Hunter!"

All of this was quite new to Luica who hadn't realised that Dante had other women in his life.

"So how'd you run into the good old boy-in-red-who-thinks-he's-the-whole-world? One of the girls at Love Planet tell you about him?"

Plenty of them by the sound of it.

"No. I traced him through his name on the tax records."

"Yeah that's about the only debt collection he can't avoid."

A cab stopped at the corner and a tall silver haired man stepped out of it. She was about to open her mouth when Lady beat her to it.

"Well what are you doing here? Where's your little auburn fiancée?"

What, thought Lucia, he's getting married? Then she noticed he was wearing a blue coat and carried a different sword over his other shoulder. His right hand was gloved and had the sleeve pulled right down. It wasn't Dante.

"Thanks Lady for your ever so affectionate greeting. Where would we be without you? To answer your question, Kyrie is fine, but a bit nervous about this."

"It seems like you two are going to take forever before you finally tie the knot."

"Who's this Lady?"

"Nice changing of the subject. Nero, Lucia, Lucia, Nero. Dante's half brother."

The boy stuck out his right gloved hand. She went to shake it and there was a sudden glow coming from it. Nero stared at it. Then Lady spoke every quietly.

"What did you say you were?"

Lucia looked at her and noted that she was gripping one of her pistols very tightly.

"I'm not a demon if that's what you're thinking."

"My arm only reacts to a paranormal presence." Nero said quietly. "It's never wrong. So let's clear this up before we spill any blood."

"Dante told me that a devil never cries. I can cry so therefore…"

"You're not a devil." Lady finished. "Yeah. That's what he told Trish too. But I still think that my name was better. I told Dante that even a devil may cry if he loses a loved one. That's true because Dante is a half breed."

"Well she's not a threat anyway." Nero let go of her and took a step back. "Now where is Dante. He called me a while back, knowing I was coming to town today and told me…"

"What?" Lady was aghast.

Nero sighed and explained. "I always come down to visit don't I Lady. Well Dante said he needed me here today for some reason. Well his exact words were, "Nero get your ass over to my place pronto! I really need your help!" so I figured I better get over here pretty quick."

"Did he say what for?"

"No."

At that point there was the sound of a car coming up the street really fast. It skidded to a halt just outside the building and a tall stunning blonde dressed in a black tube top and trousers literally jumped out of the car.

"Nero get over here now!"

Nero dropped his bag and ran down the steps to where Dante was struggling to get something out of the back of the car. It was a body. Barely alive and not going to remain in that state for long. Nero dropped his bags and ran down the steps to the car and took over from Trish who ran up the steps. Lady and Lucia had already opened the doors to the office and were clearing off the couch and pushing the back of it down so that it formed a kind of a bed. Between them Dante and Nero dragged the unconscious form into the room and laid him down.

"Oh hells!" Lucia heard Lady mutter.

The body on the couch was a young man. He was clothed in rags and his silver hair was all over the place and so matted that it was almost like cloth.

"Lucia! Call Patty's mom now and get her to come over here now!" Dante had roared at her.

"Who?" she responded unable to take her eyes off the form that was sprawled on the couch. Every sense she had was telling her he was dangerous!

"Oh Bloody ashes and hellfires! Trish take over from the idiot!"

Trish gave her an apologetic look, grabbed up the phone and dialled the number. Lucia was left standing there like a fool.

"Keep him still, I can't focus." The woman said quietly to Dante.

"I'm trying!" Dante ground out. The almost lifeless from of Vergil lay stretched out on the couch, twitching.

"Where was he?" Nero said quietly.

"Pit of Despair. Looked like he's been there since he fell in."

Behind them the rest of the crew were silent. Lady and Trish were standing very quietly in a corner with young Patty who didn't know what exactly was going on, but was here because her mom was never leaving her alone again. Morrison was sitting on the desk edge in case anything was needed he would be able to run and get it. Lucia was sitting in one of the chairs, feeling very out of place. The little blond girl was giving her odd looks. Nero and Dante were kneeling on the floor beside Patty's mom who had her hands on Vergil's forehead and was concentrating to see if she could bring his mind back to a dormant state.

"How long was he in the Underworld?" she asked.

"Almost eight years."

"I don't know if I can help him. That's a very long time." There was silence for some time. Then she sat back and sighed.

"It worked?" Nero asked.

"To an extent. He shows incredible resistance. It was like he had been mentally bludgeoned, even so he has incredible mental strength."

"He had his soul removed and placed in a suit of armour. That was his transformation into Nelo Angelo. He never really surrendered to Mundus and in the end Mundus had to partly possess him." Trish filled in the missing gap.

"In that case it's quite likely that he will never recover. Unless you have a source of power to reawaken him."

Dante smiled a little strained smile. "I think I do. Nero."

Nero stood up and slowly pushed up his sleeve and took off his glove. There was a gasp from Lucia who had never seen it before. Even the others were slightly taken aback. His Devil Bringer arm glowed with a fierceness that the others had never seen before. Now that it was no longer constrained it began to sizzle and spark as power began to flow through it.

"When did you get that arm Nero?"

"It was just a normal hand when it first arrived. I had a battle with several demons of a sort I hadn't come across before. Then this demon managed to get it's weapon inside my reach and it cut off my forearm. I managed to kill it. But I was seriously injured and going into shock. I saw some things I don't think were real, but someone appeared with an arm and attached it. I blacked out pretty soon, but there it was afterwards. Not the same as my own, which was gone, but human and working. The join was visible though. It wasn't until a battle I had protecting Kyrie in the forest that I got a cut on the forearm and it immediately started to change. That was when I first heard the voice." He looked at everyone. "The rest you know."

"Yeah." Dante rose. "That's Vergil's arm you have, and if I'm not mistaken he has yours. I need you to trigger Nero and to put some power into him. And I need Yamato back."

"Stand back everyone."

There was a sudden pulse of light. When everyone opened their eyes again, Nero had changed. He glowed a light blue and his eyes had turned red. In his hand he carried Yamato, the sword of Sparda and Vergil. But most important, he had a spectre come up behind him hovering there. But whereas before it mimicked his movements, now it reached for the body on the couch.

"I must return to myself!" Nero ground out, in the strange double tone that he used.

"Then rise Eldest Son of Sparda!" and Nero laid his hand on Vergil's forehead.

Vergil began to absorb the power and he began to arch his back. Nero clutched his head and fell to his knees. There was a slow set of flashes from under Vergil's eyelids and all of his muscles stood out like ropes under his skin! Nero began to make choking sounds!

"He's taking too much, I can't keep it up any longer!" he managed to grind out.

"Hang on!" Dante put his own hands on Vergil's shoulders and there was a crackle as his arms flashed into his triggered form! Dante grabbed Yamato and quickly put a little slit in his own arm and then into Vergil. Clasping the two cuts together he said, "Sparda's blood flows in both our veins brother! Now let's get you up and at them!"

Vergil opened his mouth and screamed!

Dante finally stepped away from the finally still, sleeping form of Vergil. His brother had thrashed around even worse as Mrs Lowell had clamped her hands around his temples and concentrated. After a minute or two his eyes opened and he roared out a single name!

"Eva!"

Then he fell back and he fell asleep. Mrs Lowell looked up. There was a sheen to her face. The concentration and effort had been almost too much for her. Nero managed to stand up.

"He'll be alright, provided he manages to sleep it off. It's him alright," she said before he could argue, "I picked up your name Dante and your father, he screamed for his mother and then he sat up and screamed Eva."

Dante nodded, "That was her." He said.

Now Dante stepped away from that area of the room and left Trish and Lady tucking Vergil away into a swathe of blankets to keep him safe firm the cold and to try to heat him up. Lucia was waiting for him.

"What?"

"You lying scum! That was your reason for helping me all along wasn't it! You wanted to get your brother back!"

"Yes I did and yes it was one of the primary reasons I went!"

"And the other one!"

Dante smirked. "I wanted money until I realised it wasn't that kind of job."

Lucia narrowed her eyes until they were green slits. "You set me up!"

"No I didn't. You thought I honestly cared about the island and your group. Well the fact is I didn't until Arius showed his true colours."

"Oh so that was it was it?"

"Yep."

"You selfish… argh. To the hells with you! And you're not getting paid either!"

"What?" Dante was incredulous, "You can't be serious. I need the money to pay off my debt."

"Yes so I was told!"

"Fine. By the way your hair sucks! And I'd go about setting yourself apart from all your clones, so I don't kill you by mistake when I hunt them down!"

"I will, thanks for the hint!"

"there's the door!"

"See you in hell!"

"Look forward to that!"

And she stormed off.

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Will return to the main story next chapter. As again I will ask, please review.


	5. Chapter 5

Back to the main storyline. My gratitude to all those who have been sop kind as to give me reviews. (See, if you want praise like this, review too!)

* * *

**A Serious Development**

As Dante got his breath back in a series of gasps and short breaths Vergil was investigating the origins of the mysterious attacker.

"Sentinel you called him?"

"He called himself. Probably a dud, not worth it." Dante grunted.

"Nevertheless, it is worth taking a look at. Even if it's not his real name he may have a connection to it. Consider the name Tony Redgrave for instance."

Dante nodded. He had gone by the name of Tony Redgrave for some time back when he was starting out in the business, back before Temen ni Gru and his battle there. Tony Redgrave had been a name that his father used as an alias.

"Still, he doesn't appear to have left a return to sender address, now does he."

"No." Vergil looked around himself at the devastated office. "But there are other ways of tracking people."

At that point the door opened and Lady walked in, a look of death on her face.

"You…" she managed to get out in a strangled tone, "You…!" she whipped up a pistol and drilled Dante between the eyes. As he went over backwards she continued her tirade.

"You evil little sod! What are you trying to do, begger me! Whatever happened to territories. You stole every single one of my jobs last night! They were all done when I got there. Alright I have a huge debt over you, but this is going too far!"

Dante rose, a red light in his eyes! Vergil noticed it. "Lady, I would go into the kitchen and stay there if I were you." Dante began to glow. "Now!"

Nero grabbed her arm and pulled her into the kitchen just in time. Dante triggered and hurled himself at her only to be met by an equally triggered Vergil who collided with him halfway! Through the door the sounds of battle could be heard as the two devil knights fought with their fists.

"What did you say happened?" prompted Nero.

Lady sat there on her bike and looked out at the farm in front of her. Concerned neighbours had given her a call saying that demons were attacking the innocent home. It certainly seemed the case, as the barn was on fire and the house looked thrashed. She could see the marks where a Scarecrow, most likely, had dragged its bladed arm along the ground in that direction. She grabbed one of her submachine guns and accelerated down towards the house. Jumping off she ran up towards the door and carefully glanced around the frame. Inside the hallway had had all the pictures ripped off the walls and the doors broken off their hinges.

"Hello?" she called uncertainly. Lady was no stranger to silence, but this silence was way too weird for her liking. No sound whatsoever.

"Hello? Who is it?" a voice from upstairs. Keeping her guns out and ready she climbed the stairs carefully. In one of the rooms upstairs a face was poking out of a closet. More importantly there was a huge hole in the window in this room.

"Who are you?" said the face.

"My name is Lady, I'm a Devil Hunter." Lady explained. "I was called in by neighbours. I understand you were attacked.

"Yes I was. My son has gone into town you see, with my husband and it was just me here for the evening. They came out of nowhere. Just thrashing the barn and then they started towards the house. I ran up here and hid in the closet, it was the only place I could go, but they followed me!"

"What happened then?"

"I heard them come in to the room, but then there was a big crashing sound of glass and they all screamed. There were sounds of a fight all around the house. Then there was silence. Then I heard a man's voice."

"What did he say?"

"Pushovers or something like that."

Lady was incensed. Only one man she knew would do something like this, and on her watch too.

"well it's good that you're alive. No one else here?"

"No."

"Good. Stay out of sight until your family get back."

Lady stalked down the stairs, got on her bike and drove off.

"Only one man I know would do that, Dante."

Nero smirked. "Lady, Dante and Vergil were on the other side of town trying to find out who opened a small gate in the warehouse district. Vergil said they were there all night after the demons attacked them."

Lady had her mouth open. "Then who was it?" she asked in a small voice.

"I don't have a clue, but someone attacked Dante this morning. We only found out now."

"Hellfire!"

"Yep. He ain't happy, not one bit!"

There was a roar from the other room and Nero got up from his leaning position and walked forward.

"That generally means that they've finished, so I can let you back in the room again."

He opened the door and Lady went back in.

Dante was on the couch, still glowering, but for the moment subdued. Vergil was standing by the desk, his arms folded in front of him, with the poise of a watchful predator.

"It wasn't him." Vergil said. "We were busy all last night dealing with that pitiful excuse for an infestation."

"I know." Lady said quietly, "Nero told me just now."

"Then you can't blame me!" Dante snapped out of the corner of his mouth, "If you must know my business has dropped off in the last few weeks as well. That pitiful infestation was all I could get."

"Someone is cutting into our territories." Vergil continued. "And they are good."

Nero posed the question on everyone's mind. "Do you think it's the guy from earlier on?"

"Could be. The old woman did say that she heard a male voice."

"One of the others?"

"No." Dante said, "I would know if it was one of the others."

Lady spoke up again. "I can see if anyone else has been having a bad run of business either."

"Nothing has been happening with the Fortuna area." Nero put in. "Although people are still wary after the Silver Gigas incident."

The phone rang. Vergil picked it up.

"Hello? Oh it's you Trish. Yes Dante is here, will I hand you over to him? Yeah sure."

Dante picked up the phone. "Yes?"

"Dante you are not going to believe this. Right, first I'm here in Belmonte, then suddenly, demons everywhere! They cut through everyone here, but that's not the worst part. There were Hells, Scarcrows and Marionettes."

"All three?" Dante was shocked. Generally grunt demons never went into battle with any not in their species.

"I know. And people were with them Dante. A load of weirdo's in cloaks!"

"A necromantic cult?"

"That's my understanding. They tear up the entire street, killing anyone in their way, and destroying all the street stalls. It's a big incursion! Then out of nowhere a force of angels come in and go head to head with the demons!"

There was silence.

"Dante?"

"Angels!" he managed to croak out.

"Yeah I know! They never show up in the human world except to collect souls, right. Well I'm not joking, almost a hundred angels, warrior angels. They go head to head with the demons and slaughter every one. Then they take out the cultists too!"

"What!"

"You heard it right. They slaughtered the cultists. I had been slaying too so I saw the whole thing! Then they turned to me."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. The leader, a big guy with a sword and buckler looks at me and says, "You have chosen your side demoness", and then he leads all his soldiers into the sky off towards the south."

"Belmonte, that's to the,"

"South of you." Trish finished. "They were going away from the city." She paused. "Something big is going on, Dante, if angel warriors are flying around. Demon incursions are on the increase again."

Dante jumped at a vague chance. "Are you coming home? Things are going a bit like that here too. A guy attacked me today, not human, demon or angel. He was something else."

"I'll be home as soon as I can Dante. I've got to finish some things here, and then I'll be back."

"Okay. Take care of yourself."

"You too."

The phone went dead. Dante bowed his head, put down the receiver and turned to the rest of the group. "Bunch of angels fought it out with a demon incursion. They won, but they headed south."

"To their next target."

"Could it be angels here."

"No we would have felt them."

Nero sat still for a few minutes. "This guy though, he wasn't demon or angel."

"No. That was what made him so strange. He didn't register as anything at all."

As usual it was Vergil who started everyone on to a new adventure. "We can start by tracing the name Sentinel. He must be in the system somewhere. Besides I think I've heard that name somewhere before."

"It's a start," Dante sighed, "but what about the rest of the leads."

"I'm getting to that. Lady, can you talk to the other Hunters in the city and see if they have been having a slow down as well as us."

"Got it."

"Good. We can proceed with those lines of enquiry then and when Trish gets back we can expand."

"Right now?"

"It's getting later. We should start first thing tomorrow."

* * *

Satanic Park of Madness: Yes, unfortunately I have made Dante a bit of a jerk. A bit? I jest! A huge jerk. But don't worry, his true nature will start to emerge throughout the story.

Eric Draven 201: He does that though doesn't he. I mean look at Nero, poor guy.

Reviews are like Valium, they should be given out more!


	6. Chapter 6

ED 201 and SPoM, your queries will be answered in due time. More of Sentinel in this chapter.

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**A New Days Work**

The man known as Sentinel stood on top of a building. His hair whipped around in the wind and he looked out across the cityscape. His coat tail snapped and curled but his hands remained still as stone by his sides. His sword was slung over his shoulder and his pistol was holstered at his side. He crouched and looked down into the alleyway he was sitting above. Below him, some fifty demons crept along. Off on another frenzy of murder and mayhem, that was their nature. They were not satisfied with being the custodians of the Underworld, they had to come up to the human world and try to attack them. He sighed. They would present little trouble to him, but it would be a mistake to think that they couldn't hurt anyone else. Besides if he picked up the need for someone else to be rescued then he could go a full steam and wipe them out before going on to help. He stood again and dropped.

He landed right in the middle of the pack, slamming into the back of one unfortunate Hell Pride, which burst under his feet. As the others began to turn towards him, he unslung his sword and beckoned gently with one hand.

"Come and get me boys and girls."

Even as the demons began to turn he moved. Three slashes of his sword and three Prides fell headless. Then the Hells moved. A couple of Lusts attempted to get within a scythes range and succeeded. They swung. He simply ducked under the arc of their weapons and responded with a lazy sweep of his sword. Jumping up and over the assembled mass of Greeds, he swiped once and the Hell collapsed. He landed and as the scythe fell behind him, he fired one single bullet towards it. It hit the scythe just on the blades join with the haft and it acted like a lethal spinning top as it sawed its way down the alley! Sand fell as the Hells dissolved. Sentinel smirked as he brought his sword over his shoulder to block a Marionettes blow. Then he reversed his grip on the sword and stabbed. The case for a twisted human soul broke into pieces as its strings were cut. Scarecrows jumped high, and he countered. Spinning and flipping he cut through them all before landing on the other side as they exploded in the air behind him. Still smiling softly Sentinel sheathed his sword and walked back up the wall to continue his vigil.

Vergil roused Dante at almost first light, with some difficulty.

"No mommy I don't want to go to school."

"Dante, it's Vergil, get up now!"

"No, the other boys think my silver hair is funny. They don't like me 'cos I'm not ugly like them."

Vergil gave up. Some things just needed the right response. "Dante if you don't get up now, Vergil will eat all your chocolate cereal!"

"What? No!" Dante was up in a second.

"Come on! We have work to do."

Dante grumbling and giving out came down the stairs in his customary garb of black top, red vest and trousers, red leather coat, black gloves and boots. Vergil was dressed in his typical blue coat, gold fingerless gloves, navy shirt and slacks with his brown boots. Nero was already up, the prospect of the investigation already getting him jazzed up. He was already rocking and ready to go. Dante of course had to eat his cereal, which was chocolate, and his bread before going out. It would have been pizza naturally, but Vergil had restricted that to lunch and dinner. Actually Trish had asked him to so Vergil did. They both knew Dante would still eat pizza at lunch and dinner, but not for breakfast was a bonus as far as they could see.

When they finally left they headed down to the library, where Vergil spent some time looking at records, Nero at a computer listing for the word Sentinel and Dante at the women who came in and out. Finally Vergil thanked the head librarian and they headed out. As they piled back into the car, Vergil drove, Dante shotgun and Nero in the back, Vergil asked the other two what they had discovered.

"Nada," Nero reported, "There was a demon locating machine called Sentinel, but it was closed down. Another record was that Sentinel was a war machine but it was a tank. There is also a set of spyware called Sentinel. But nothing about a person."

"Dante?"

"Oh I saw two or three. One hot blond came in with the great legs, but she didn't even look at me. It was you two cramping my style."

Nero heard Vergil sigh. "Can you guys give me a minute, I got to call Kyrie."

He hopped out of the car and ran over to a payphone. Dialling was no trouble, he knew the number off by heart. When the phone was answered it was her!

"Hello?"

"Hey Kyrie, it's me."

"Nero! How was your trip?"

"Easy as anything. Vergil picked me up at the station and we went straight to Dante's office."

"How is he? Has Trish come back yet?"

"He's exactly as he always is. And no Trish has not come back yet, but she is on her way. Apparently there is some trouble starting. I'm helping the guys with an investigation right now."

"Really. We had some odd people here the other day too. They were dressed entirely in out of date clothes and they visited all the major areas like the fish markets and the beach streets. They seemed to be looking at everyone every carefully."

"Sounds odd. Where are they now?"

"They left the other day. No one has seen them since."

Nero was suddenly struck by a sense of fear for her safety. "Kyrie, I want you to go to the Order and tell them that I sent you." Nero commanded.

Kyrie instantly picked up on the urgency in his voice. "Okay Nero, I'll get there as soon as possible. What is it?"

Nero bit his lip as he tried to decide if he should tell her or not. He decided to go with it. "Trish said Belmonte was the scene of a battle between a group of angels and demons. They headed south after it. I don't know if they could come to Fortuna, but I don't want to risk it."

When Nero got back to the car Vergil looked at him in askance.

"Yeah?" Nero responded.

"Well?"

"Nothing yet. A couple of guys did spy out the land though."

Dante piped up. "How is your blushing bride-to-be?"

Nero glared at him. "None of your business."

"Ah," Dante said, getting the wrong impression again, "It's none of my business. That's good to hear."

"Let's go." Vergil floored the accelerator.

"Where are we going now?" Dante asked.

"I know someone who is very good with this kind of arcane knowledge. If Sentinel means anything, she will know."

"She?" Dante raised an eyebrow.

"Yes Dante it is a woman."

"Hot?"

"Yes she is, if I understand the meaning of the slang word "hot" in this instance, she is "hot". But she is not exactly flirtatious Dante!"

"She will be, just wait and see."

Vergil looked at him with a sly grin on his face. "I am!"

* * *

A call to all who are reading! Review I cry!


	7. Chapter 7

Okay further surprises in store for you. And to the reviewer theimmuanble, I couldn't backtrack you when I got your message, but I know what you mean! I have tried every possible way of spacing but it never takes it on. I try to "save changes" and it ends up like this!

* * *

**A Clue or Two**

Vergil pushed the car to the speed limit as they drove out across the open countryside. Out the same road that Dante had taken Patty back when he had first met her, up and across the sea cliffs of Capulet. He was headed for a little village just a few miles outside of the city limits. Verdant, was a small community of only about sixty houses or so, a few convenience stores and a church to the Gods. It was there that Vergil went at full speed.

"What kind of chick is this?" Dante asked incredulously at the direction they were taking.

"An unusual girl, granted, but she specializes in forgotten knowledge, especially of the afterlife."

"You're having me on Vergil, she's probably old and decrepit. This is some sick joke of yours."

"No she is exactly as I said. She just likes the quiet life."

"Can we actually enter? I mean we are half devils you know." Nero posed the question that was bugging him.

Vergil shook his head. "Does Holy Water affect us?"

"No."

"There you go. No we can enter."

The huge doors to the building were old and almost iron hard with age, but the half breed pushed them open with ease.

"How'd you come across her anyway?"

"I was looking for some information on Mundus."

"Any luck."

"Some. No good news unfortunately. He's too powerful to be simply defeated in combat, he'll just keep coming back."

They said all this in silence. Even though they were not harmed by Hallowed Weapons, they were still aware that the Gods were extremely powerful, even if forgiving. They knelt for a moment, the three of them, and asked for blessings in their endeavours. Even Dante was respectful. Vergil rose and made his way over to the priest who had come out to see who it was. Quiet words were exchanged and Vergil came back.

"She's in, and open to visitors."

They went quickly over to the side of the main hall, where there was a small door leading off to another room. The priest knocked and went in. Dante leaned over to Vergil.

"Did the Padre happen to mention if there had been any demon or angel activity around here?"

"No," Vergil pursed his lips for a moment. "I forgot to ask."

The priest came out. Vergil asked him the question and he shook his head before going off into the back of the hall. Vergil turned to Dante with a big grin on his face.

"Now, how about a bet."

"That she'll flirt with me? If she's under fifty it's a given dude."

"Okay, let's say you pay for dinner and the two of us get to choose what we eat."

"Deal and if I win then you give me…"

"Yamato for two weeks."

Nero was impressed. Vergil must be very sure of himself if he was betting Yamato on this.

"Done."

They knocked and a female voice said, "Come in."

The door opened. Sitting behind the desk was a young girl, maybe twenty at the most. She had dark brown hair and clear blue eyes that were several shades darker than the Sparda twins. She stood up to greet them and Dante could see that she had a trim, slim figure, clad in a silver, blue and white dress which accentuated her shapely form. She had what would be called a simple beauty. Nero heard Dante make a strangled sort of noise under his breath.

"How's it going Vergil?" she asked.

"Not too bad thanks. Liv this is my twin brother Dante and my half brother Nero."

Nero went to say hi and shake the proffered hand, but Dante got there first.

"Wow," he said scooping up her hand and kissing it gently, old world style, "It is truly an honour. Vergil has told me all about you."

Her voice was warm and kind and expressed a hidden message that said she thought Dante was an idiot, when she replied, "I doubt that. He has only ever learned information from me and nothing about me."

Dante grasped at straws. "He does know your name."

She didn't reply but simply sat down at a desk with the name Liv Sylvase on the plaque. Nero tried not to laugh and Dante turned as red as his coat. Vergil merely smiled.

"How did that last bit of information I gave go?" she began.

"Like a charm. It worked perfectly. But that's not really the reason we're here."

Her eyebrows went up. "Oh, what is it this time?"

Nero leaned forward. "What do you know of a person called Sentinel?"

Liv stared at him. "Who are we talking about here?"

Dante still smarting after his rejection answered. "A guy who calls himself Sentinel attacked me yesterday."

She sat back and steepled her fingers. "Describe him."

"Six foot something, just a little shorter than me, dark brown hair worn long, well built and dark blue eyes. He was right handed, or at least he favoured that side when sword fighting. Carried a long sword, a little shorter than Rebellion with a strange gap where the fuller should be, and he wore a gun on his left hip. He was dressed in a blue coat, white shirt and dark blue jeans. And he would have creamed Vergil in hand to hand combat!" Dante thus concluded his description with a sting towards his brother.

For a minute or two there was silence in the room. Then Liv responded, "Is there anything else you want to know?"

"What about Him?"

"I'll deal with him at another time. Right now there is no place for that to be discussed."

Vergil shrugged. "Okay, why would angels be patrolling the world?"

The silence was even longer. She sighed. "I had been afraid that this was coming for some time now."

Dante leaned forward. "What was coming?"

Liv snorted to herself. "Angels patrolling the streets means only one thing! Mundus is making another bid for the human realm, the angels have been summoned by humans for defense, the humankind allies itself with either faction, going for glory either way, and the world collapses into the chaos of a three way war! Then comes the worst part, the Gods return and the world ends!"

There was silence from the rest of the room. She continued, "Judgement is then meted out, the wicked, angel, demon, human, they are destroyed! The righteous, demon, angel, human, they are reborn as being of light and go with the gods to Paradise!"

"Hold on a minute! How can demons be righteous?" Dante demanded.

Liv gave him a critical look. "The Gods are not concerned with species, race or gender. Sins are accounted, but they tend not to be as vicious as people tend to think. Righteousness is something that people make a choice to do. Your father was righteous, son of Sparda, he knew what it meant. You do too. Doing what is right in a situation, making the right choices, believing, respecting and having faith. Even if you fall, the Gods are merciful towards sinner and ask only that you repent. Demons are creatures of the Underworld, but they are bound by their duty. Quite often a grunt demon will attack humans because it is ordered to. They do not have free will as such. Devil's on the other hand do. They will choose their path, be it good or evil. And such will be their reward."

"What about angels?" Vergil asked.

"You've seen fallen haven't you? The angels will choose their sides as well, the difference being that the Heavens, or the grunts as you would say, are not warriors. They have specific warrior for that. They have free will. They will choose sides. Evil will be punished. As a whole though, demons are evil and angels are good. But there are the one who will choose otherwise. A lot has to do with environment. But regardless of side, the Hells and Heavens will be reclaimed and absorbed back into the power of the Gods."

"This is a bit hard to understand." Said Nero.

Liv waved a hand. "Not to worry. You just worry about which side you are on. Your enemies will become clear enough. But you must remember, humans will begin this war, by summoning."

"How do we stop it?" Dante was ready for battle.

Liv smiled in response. "Simple. Don't let the war start."

"What about Sentimel?" Nero suddenly remembered why they had come, "Where does he come into this?"

Liv shrugged and stood, walking over to her window. "It's a false name, but it's apt."

"Why, who is he."

"What is he?"

Vergil answered for Dante, "Neither angel, human or demon."

Liv sighed and turned form the window. "I can't help you with that, but I can tell you the origin of the name."

"Go on."

"Sentinel was the name of a fairytale character. The legend goes he served with Sparda in the war with the Underworld. He is said to have fought at Sparda's side in all but the final battle with Mundus."

The Sparda boys had left and Liv listened until she could hear no more as their car disappeared into the distance. She sat at her desk for several minutes and if anyone had seen her they would have noticed that her eyes had gone distant and far off. A lot was happening in her mind, stuff she didn't want to be reminded of. She got up and locked her door. Going over to her desk she let her fingers brush it's underside and a secret drawer slid out. She took it and sat. Flicking through the pages found what she was looking for.

"What are you doing back here?" she asked the air. "Why?"

* * *

Interested. Next chapter will feature Sentinel for its entirety.


	8. Chapter 8

SPoM may I draw your attention to a point I made in an earlier chapter. There are necromancers. You know what they are. And no it is not Samael from Silent Hill. Sentinels true name will be revealed in due time. Thanks for all the reviews.

**A Dangerous Foe **

Scarecrows and Hells charged up the stairs of the tenement house! They were here for a slaughter, and a slaughter they were going to get whether they wanted it or not. Before them were several unhappy people who had no hope of escape! They never saw the strange shape that came around the building next to it at full speed. The only warning they ever got was a flash. Suddenly Sentinel came right in through the window at a huge speed! He hit them at a speed which was never seen before and probably never seen again! In a whirl of sword and gun he cut through them with a speed that was born of necessity! People were in danger. Innocence was threatened and speed was of the utmost importance. This was no time for playing! It was kill them quickly time! With one swift slash of his sword six scarecrows fell! The carry on meant that he skewered a Pride with one swift move! Then in an instant it was over.

Why, he thought, why? There was no way the people in there could escape. Who in their right mind would flee up there anyway? People have no sense. Sentinel was in a huge hurry. Incursions were on the rise. The longer he remained here the more likely it was that people would die. He had to succeed! Any error at all would ultimately lead to the Last Battle! It was up to him to deal with the problem. He turned to the window. Out there were at least three million people. They never knew what kind of danger they were in, especially now. When this got worse, if it could, they would never know what hit them. They would call on the angelic Host to defend them. Others would summon demons in the hope that they would be spared, or for the sense of power. Indeed, if this got any farther, humans would take sides and that would be it! He sighed to himself. It was up to him and other like him to make sure that things never got that far. Devil Hunters were only so capable, sometimes there needed to be others to carry the burden.

Sentinel hopped up on the edge of the window he had shattered in his haste to get here. The city slept, so did the rest of the country. Time was so short, and yet he had to defend all of this! He grinned. He had almost forgotten that he was not alone. He still had those two… Danger! He sprang away from the edge of the sill as a scythe slashed into it! Down he went, straight to the bottom of the streets! Landing on his feet, Sentinel looked up. Out of the window came an Abyss, followed by at least ten more! All around him little portals opened and out leaped Assaults, Blades and Frosts! Eventually, he was surrounded by at least fifty of the Underworlds elite!

"You never give up, do you." Came a voice he was familiar with. Unfortunatley.

Sentinel sighed inwardly. "Hello Acheron." He turned to face the devil knight, "What brings you here?"

Acheron smiled. His human appearance was of a blond man, with a sly grin, dressed in a neat coat and a sort of armoured chest garment. That was the best way to describe it. A garment. It had no real use, except as something to wear. Sentinel focused back on his words. "I could ask the same question of you. But I am here on the orders of the Dark Emperor!"

"Old Mundy? Oh you gotta be kidding me! That's great. So when did he get out of hospital?"

Acherons eyes flickered from violet to red for a brief moment. "YOU would be wise not to talk about the great Mundus in that manner you pup!" he ground out between his teeth.

Sentinel smirked. "What, just because he's my enemy, doesn't mean I can't enquire after his health."

"You should not be disrespectful to someone who is far above you in rank."

Sentinel waved his hand dismissively. "Three eyes got a problem with the way I speak of him he can come and get me himself. Not send a piece of garbage like you."

Acheron snarled at him with fury. "A piece of garbage am I? Well let's see about that!"

He threw back his arms and roared! A blue light enveloped him and when it faded he had changed.

Now Acheron stood in his true form. Deep purple armour covered him from head to toe. His face a solid death mask and two horns protruding from his forehead straight out. In his right hand he held a huge sword. It's hilt curved viciously inwards and designed to gouge an opponent when rammed into his chest. From his shoulders flowed a long cape which covered his jet black feathered wings! Red eyes locked on Sentinel and from behind the face came a voice.

"Now do I seem a piece of garbage?!"

Sentinel grinned his little smile and drew the sword off his back.

"I can tell how this is going to go." He began, "You'll send in your troops to attack me first, because you know I'm way better than you in the first place, then when I've killed them all, you'll jump in and try to fight me. Then you'll lose." He pointed his word right at Acheron. "Am I right?"

"Kill him!"

Abysses leaped, Blades sprang, Assaults charged and Frosts took aim! Time seemed to slow as they headed for him in one big group. Sentinel merely stood there waiting. Then the scythes came down and the claws came up! Sentinel no longer stood in the area they were aiming at! He was above them and coming down with grin! He was still grinning as with one sweep he dismembered two Abysses and a Blade! Half tunring he drove his blade in one quick motion through a Frost before leaning to the side to avoid a swipe of claws! Scythes rose and fell and Sentinel slid on his knees through the pair and a gunshot and a sword blow felled them both! Spinning and whipping his sword Sentinel let the bladestorm deflect all attacks on him! He leaped into the air. Seven enemies jumped after him. Catching one sword in his grip he flipped so that the Abyss was struck by fired claws from a Blade. He half turned, and as he did so he fired twice! The bullets smacked into two of his attackers and they fell!

Sentinel began to get really angry. These imbeciles honestly thought they could give him a run for his money! Worse innocents might be in trouble. He whipped out his pistol and fired as he dodged a scythe swing. The bullet smashed through the Abyss! Half turning he sent his sword through a Blade and thrust forward! Sliding across the street he skewered a Frost, an Assault and two more Blades as he charged! The sword slashed out of them and around as he whirled, dicing a couple of Frosts! The elites charged as one! Sentinel, he charged back! As he ran he lowered his sword knowing that as defensively minded as these elites were, they would put there shields forward. With a smashing sound he slammed into them and tossed them all aside like ninepins! Ducking he fired again and again as he dodged from side to side and laid in even more firepower! The sword came up and hacked a couple of Abysses to bits. A quick swing and he beheaded another Abyss, whilst an over handed stroke clove a Frost from head to toes! He leaned to one side and icicle talons shot past him to impale an Assault. As an Abyss slashed, Sentinel took his hand off the tong in a movement that was too quick for the eye to follow, pistol whipped the demon in the face, caught the sword and spun in time to batter a Blade with the flat! Sentinel leaped. Demons followed him and he flipped in mid air. Spinning his outstretched feet moved like hammers as they knocked demons left and right! Coming down again, he flipped, and slashed! An Assault fell in two vertically!

Acheron watched with a dismal feeling. This target of his had just defeated fifty of the best the Underworld had to offer. Now was the time for him to make his move! He charged. Sword clanged on sword as the man met his blow and still had enough concentration to kick away a Blade.

"My master wished you dead, creature!"

"Sorry to disappoint, but I've always liked being alive. Besides I don't really fear death. It holds no fear for me!"

"I will drag you to the Underworld myself!"

"Oh scary!"

The two separated and the man began to spin his sword from hand to hand as if it were a stick. Then he began to toss the spinning sword from hand to hand. Suddenly there was a scream from somewhere over the city! The man froze and for a second it seemed like he would drop the weapon. But before it hit the ground it leaped back into his hand.

"Now I have no more time." Acheron heard him mutter.

The Elites charged, so did Acheron! They ran at him and time seemed to slow. He saw the man raise the sword and twist the pommel. A blue light swept down the gap in the centre of the blade and the man rammed the sword point first into the ground. There was a flash of blue light that quickly turned white! Acheron saw the elites disintegrate in the flash and then the force hit him! He sailed through the air and crashed into the wall. Sinking to the ground he managed to open his eyes. His vision swam, but he could just make out the form of his enemy walking across the ground towards him. The black boots stopped in front of him and a hand gripped his throat. He was raised off the ground until he was level with the strangers face. Staring at him were two eyes of white-gold flame! And a voice spoke, echoing into his mind like a tidal wave.

"Go and tell Mundus, I will make his life hell if anyone innocent dies under my watch!" he was flung into the air where he clawed for height and safety. But the voice followed him.

"And tell him that Primarch Asterius wishes him best health until they meet on the battlefield!"

* * *

No that is not Sentinels real name. The Primarch will be revealed as well in duw course. If anyone wants to guess, send me a private message. By the way, the dangerous foe was Acheron. He's a devil knight like Nelo Angelo.


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for all reviews, and SPoM please don't take my statement too harshly. I also would like to say thanks for the name. You'll find out what I mean soon enough.

**A Start**

Lady took a gulp of her soda. It had since become somewhat warm in her hands as she had been listening to the Hunter she was interviewing.

"Thanks Abe. Anyway I should be going. I have a few other calls to make before nightfall."

"No problem." Abe was stocky with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. His arms, which lay on the table, were knotted with muscle, which was a good thing as he needed them to wield that gas powered crossbow of his. "I could seek out some more info for you if you want?"

"That'd be good. Keep me posted." Lady rose from the table and walked out the door. That made four she had interviewed that day alone. All of them had the same thing to report, demons on the rise, jobs going down.

The Devil Hunters of Capulet city were a mixed bunch. Some, like Abe relied on tried and tested methods, using weapons that had been made holy, or wielding ancient or arcane weaponry. Some, like Mrs Lowell, had inherent powers and wielded them to incredible effect. Others used modern weapons and equipment. A few even managed to use weird equipment. One hunter she had interviewed had a suit that made every single one of his motions a hundred times more powerful. That plus the buzz saws on his wrists made him a force to be reckoned with. Being a Devil Hunter was a hard job, but if you could survive then you became very dangerous. Lady knew. She was considered the second best hunter in the city. Everyone knew Dante was the best, but he was also the most careless. Hellfire, in one mission he managed to collapse a bridge! Others could be equally careless, but never did the same amount of damage that Dante did. Vergil now was a different matter. He never ever made a mess. He just made a swipe of that sword of his and anything in front of it died.

Lady frowned. Why had she even agreed to do this job? If it had been Dante asking her, she would have said no, but Vergil was more persuasive than his twin, and far more deserving of an acquiescence. She shrugged and went back over what she had learned. Every single hunter in town was losing custom, despite the fact that incursions were increasing. No angels had been sighted, but no one really knew what they would look like. Oh Trish, why did you have to leave? Lady grinned to herself, that was a story she really wanted to hear. One day Trish is here and dealing with Dante's little childish problems, the next she's saying goodbye and leaving carrying a shoulder bag. Now if she was here, then they would know what an angel looked like. Dante would have had a bit of an idea, since he had been in Fortuna when the Silver Giga's incident had happened. They weren't real angels, just animated armours, but they were a good idea of the real thing.

Lady drove the bike to another part of town and pulled in. Good old Enzo lived here and the swarthy man was a great source of info. Him and Dante still got together every now and then for a few beers and a game of bowling. They were good too, most of the bowling teams in the city couldn't beat them on a good day. She walked up the steps to the entrance of his office and knocked. Enzo had his feet up on the table, just like Dante, and a magazine over his face. It was a glamour model mag, and from the look of it, it was just like his favourite beer, plastered with triple x's.

"You really need to get out of Dante's company Enzo. You're starting to develop his bad habits."

Enzo almost fell out of the chair with surprise. "Lady," he almost yelled with delight, "You've finally decided to marry me, yes?"

Lady laughed at that. Enzo was trying to get her to marry him, but the thought of marrying someone that much like Dante wasn't too appealing. Anyway, she hated guys who were over fond of themselves.

"No Enzo. I'm doing a bit of an investigation for the guys."

"Ah, Lady you're breaking my heart."

"You break a few of your own you know."

"Good one."

"Anyway," Lady grabbed a chair and sat, "have you had many jobs in the past few weeks?"

Enzo laughed, then became serious. "No. I have had none. I have been sitting here in my office drinking coffee to keep myself awake. All in vain hopes that a customer will come in my door."

"Really?"

"Why do you think I was asleep when you came in."

"Good point." Lady was silent for a few moments. "Did Dante tell you he was attacked?"

"No. Who by?"

"Some unknown creature. Looked human though."

"I bet it was one of them!"

Lady was shocked for a moment as this sank in. "You've seen him!"

Enzo looked annoyed. "The only night this week I had some action. I went out looking for it. It was dark and it was overcast, but there was enough light for a hunt. I was driving along minding my own business, which meant I was looking around, when I heard a roar. Sounded like a beast of some sort so I jumped out of the car and drew my guns. The next thing I know, there's a couple of slashing noises, a bubbling sound and then these two guys jump onto the wall in front of me. Literally, jump onto the wall! They didn't see me, but I saw them. There were two of them, and they disappeared when they reached the top. What do you think of that?"

"That's, quite the story." Lady really couldn't believe her ears. "So there are more than one of them."

"Most likely. At least two anyway, that I am certain of. They are dangerous. The beast was quite large when I saw his corpse. They had killed it very quickly."

Lady shook her head. "Yeah. Vergil was right. This is getting pretty dangerous. I'd better get going Enzo, thanks."

"I'm here all the time, baby, if you need a shoulder to cry on and all." He called out as she left.

Immediately she went straight to a phone box. Vergil had installed a car phone in Dante's car and had given her the number should she need it. It rang for a few minutes before being answered by the owners voice.

"Hey Trish?"

"Sorry Dante, it's me."

"Oh alright. Vergil it's your _girlfriend_!"

"Gimme that you moron!" Vergil had a small fight with Dante over the controls. "Hello Lady. Sorry about Dante."

"No problem, I had to deal with him for years until you returned, I know what he's like. Besides I think he's expecting Trish."

"Probably. Any news?"

"Everyone has been feeling the effects of this guy, but that ain't the worst thing."

"No?"

"No. He's not alone!"

* * *

What do you think? please tell me by reviewing. And I apologise once again for the spacing problem. Can't seem to fix it though.


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry about this but ifelt the chapter a little too higgeldy piggeldy so I rewrote some of it and switched it. As I said before, Trish returns and so does a cool One Winged Knight, but anyway, read on. My thanks as always for reviews and messages.

* * *

**A Return**

"What news now?" Sentinel asked the thin air. He was standing on the edge of a roof looking down at the city below. Beside him a young woman stepped out of the air into solidity and stood beside him.

"You shouldn't do that," She said reproachfully, "It's kind of unnerving."

"Sorry. It's part of who I am."Sentinel gave her a sheepish grin. "Anyway, what news Messenger?"

Business as usual. "The time is getting closer Hand. There will be trouble ahead and it's quite possible that the end is near."

"Anything further?"

"No sir. You know that they never reveal all that they know. We follow their orders on faith, not knowledge."

Sentinel sighed. "Yes I know. It would be good though to finally get a bit of a breakthrough. But we must do things the way they should be, justice and fairness, even if our enemies do not do so. You don't have to call me sir, you know."

She looked a bit surprised by this. "Why not? It's you who always says, "We keep our honour" and all that kind of stuff."

Sentinel grinned. "Because Aria, we are both of the same rank and we have no seniority over each other."

Aria sniffed. "Fine. I guess so."

Sentinel laughed. "You think so? You know so. Or do I have to remind you of your rank, Messenger-General!"

Aria snickered. "Don't start. Or will I have to remind you of your rank?"

He was silent and for a moment she thought he'd forgotten her. "J…"

"Now is not the time for either of us to be revealed to the world Aria." He cut her off. "Let us pray that the day never comes." He whispered.

Aria folded her arms across her chest as she started to fade from the world. "Just remember who you are. And tell those subordinates of yours to be a little more discreet."

Sentinel sighed. "What have they done now?" he said to no one.

Vergil guided the car back through the city streets at a speed that no one could match. The only thing that stopped them being chased by the cops was that Vergil gave them a stare that left them shivering.

"Where are we going bro?" Dante had to shout above the wind.

"To get Lady and the whole truth. There are more than just him Dante, this could be very serious."

"Yeah I know, but why are you driving so fast?"

"Why do you think! We need to start tracking them! The sooner the better!"

"Hey Verge!"

"Yes!"

"I think Nero just got sick!"

Nero did indeed look pale when they pulled up at the curb and Lady jumped in the back.

"Back to the office! Fast!" she crowed. "What's up with you Nero?"

"Vergil's driving like a, well like a demon!" Nero managed to croak out.

"Have you any more leads Lady?" Vergil interjected.

"Nothing. Only that there are more than one of them, at the least three. Everyone's been having an off few weeks. Nothing, despite increased activity. Even Prof Fate and his crazy suit haven't even been getting prank calls."

"Why are we going back to the office if we're supposed to be tracking them?" Dante asked, "We should just go to the site of the battle."

"Triangulation." Was all that Vergil said in response.

Dante shrugged and sat back. "Okay I guess, but we could do that on the move."

"We also need better information. Liv is hiding something." Vergil replied.

"Whose Liv?" Lady asked Nero who was sitting beside her.

"Some chick Vergil knows who has info on the afterlife." Nero said in a drawl. "She thinks this is the end of the world."

"Really!" Lady was far from impressed.

"Personally I think it's a load of cockamamie nonsense!" Dante added, "But Verge is right about the triangulation."

"What is triangulation?" Nero managed to ask.

Dante threw him a quizzical look. "Triangulation is using map positioning references to locate a person area of operation. It's useful for tracking." He looked at Vergil. "But it could be done here in the car with the map in the door."

Vergil shook his head. "Not if we want to keep asking other Hunters for leads. A car phone costs too much for that."

Half an hour later the three boys were huddled over the map spread over Dante's desk, with Lady on the phone to any hunters she had missed. The conversation before this scene had gone something like this.

"I' not your damn secretary!"

"No one knows the people of the city like you do. You make more than anyone else!"

"Is that the main reason? If it is then you can shove that request-"

"Would you rather it was Dante?"

Silence.

"Good point."

Now Lady was still not happy about being the one who did all the talking but the three boys were poring over the biggest street map possible.

"And that was where? An alley just off the 34th street? Okay thanks Charlie." She put down the receiver. "Got that"

Nero grunted an affirmation as he fixed a coloured pin on the spot. Vergil was standing a little aloof from the map and looking down on it, Dante was right up on top of it and keeping a linear point of view as they got farther along. Most of the Hunters in town had been contacted and they had a few stories to tell but nothing really to any avail. Bradley was the only one who had any different material to give. Bradley was a demon who had fallen in love with a human girl and forsaken his master for her safety. Dante had been hired to kill him, but Bradley had been instrumental in stopping a dangerous incursion. That, coupled with his newfound love and life was the evidence that Bradley had changed. Now Bradley worked as a healer and developer of demon fighting methods. According to him, angels had been spotted in one area of the city. They had been met by a young woman, who had blond hair and didn't really have a register in his senses. He had seen someone like her once before. A person who was not in the real world. They were known as the Eyes of the Gods. Presumably they were supernatural spies. Anyway, after that event the angels had left, and Bradley had taken a sweep of the city and found no trace of them.

This was all taken down into the map references. Eventually all the hunters evidence had been gathered.

Lady strode over to the map. "What have we got?"

Nero shook his head. "Nothing."

In front of them the map was spread out, a virtual panorama of the city. There were dots all over the place. And what was worse, they were in no coherent fashion! They were spread all over the place. No pattern, no localisation. Several were even outside the city limits where rural people had called in to warn the report to some hunters.

"What makes it worse," Vergil said, "is that this place," he pointed to one particular spot, "and this place," he pointed to one on the other side of the city, "were reported on the same night, in the space of ten minutes. They move very fast."

"I gotta get me those kind of wheels!" Dante said in a hushed voice.

Everyone looked at him. "Nothing I know of can go that fast!" he said in a firm tone. "No motorbike, car or rail system. Maybe if you flew, but even then I'm not sure. Teleportation wouldn't work either. It hasn't got the range."

"What about using a slow-time tool like the Quicksilver style ball or the Key of Kronos?" Nero asked.

Dante shook his head. "Doesn't last long enough. I tried it with the car once, but it had the same effect. Doesn't give you too much of an edge either, especially over a long distance like that."

The door opened. All four of them turned their heads. Trish stepped in through the opening. They just stared at her.

"Hi." She replied.

Dante's face brightened up considerably. "Trish! You came home!"

"Yes Dante I did."

"That's great!"

"Yeah, I figured Nero would need someone who actually knew how to be a host around." She grinned.

Dante looked around at the other faces and immediately discarded the overjoyed kid look.

"It's good that you're back babe. It's been hell without you around."

Vergil, the responsible twin broke in. "Any news Trish?"

Trish's face fell and she immediately became a little more sombre. "Yes Vergil. From Lucia, and it's not really that good."

Drumary was finally getting some peace. Lucia looked out across the idyllic square that was part of this historical islands heritage. The entire thing was cobbled and all around the edges were various shops and boutiques that sold all the good that a person living here could want. A simple life that had been helped in no small way by Lucia and the Vie de Marli. They had been instrumental in wiping out the last vestiges of demons on the Island, and Lucia had made it a point to hunt down all of her clones and slay them personally. However the Vie de Marli had never given up their vowed role, protectors of the peace from demons.

Lucia herself had changed a lot since she had last been to the mainland. She now wore her hair tied back into a pair of Drumary pigtails that fitted in with the present style. This let her tanned face be visible and her piercing green eyes be visible to all. She had also begun to take a bit more interest in her solo work. She was renowned for 

being a skilled warrior in all manner of combat. Her battle harness, light, simple and easily hidden, contained all her throwing knives which she had learned to summon back to herself. And as always her curved knives were forever on her back, within easy reach. She sipped her coffee and sat back thinking that for the first time in weeks things were going well.

The only warning was a series of screams. Around the corner of the street came a man. His eyes shone with a fierce light and he raised his arms above his head and laughed. Following him came almost a hundred demons! They viciously cut down everyone in their path and two of them spotted a couple of children! The Marionettes made their keening war cries and launched themselves into the air! But, before they reached the defenceless kids a pair of knives ripped into them! The two fell back, breaking on contact with the ground! Lucia came into the battle in a storm of blade work! Her lethal daggers made short work of all who fell to them.

While she and the now arriving members of Vie de Marli threw themselves on the demons, they forgot the tall man. He walked straight over to the terrified children.

"You will suffice. My master will reward me when you are used to open the gates of the Hells! Innocent blood spilled and the Underworld is once again unleashed!"

He began to form a portal inscribed in runes in the air over his head. However at that moment the children began to scream for help!

"Help!"

"Someone, anyone, help us!"

Lucia whirled and began to charge! Even as she did so she knew it was too late! The man raised his arms over his head as the portal solidified. In his hands was a jagged bladed knife. A blood sacrifice! Lucia had to take a moment to defend herself and then turned. As one the children screamed!

They all saw it happen. The runes inverted themselves in response to the cry for aid. Out of it came a long spear! Followed by an armoured and plumed head, shoulders, the arms bearing shield and spear and the winged torso! Just as the knife came down, the shield intercepted it! With a smooth motion the angelic Legionnaire hurled him away. All around the square the air split and dozens of Legionnaires sprang through! Shields interlocked as they moved into battle formation! Plumed helmets moved as they looked to their officers for direction. Then they charged! Hells were spitted, Scarecrows shredded and Marionettes scattered across the square as the Devil Hunter clan and the Angelic Host crashed into the demons! The Legionnaires threw their spears, then drew their swords and let the enemy close!

Above them all, beyond anyones sight, several Fallen took up position. Possessing greater tactical skill they were going to deal out greater damage to their enemy. Their leader was giving them a bit of a run down.

"We will sweep down and clear this place of our masters enemies. This fool was thought to be counted upon, but is now a liability! Attack!"

They flew downward at a high speed, but suddenly stopped! Barring their way was a single angel. He stood tall and proud, curved horns spiralling out of his head, a broken halo between them. He carried a sword and a large shield that looked like a wing. He had only one wing.

"You go no further!"

"You will not stop us!"

"I shall!"

As one they charged! The one winged angel charged back his shield held out in front of him! Their clash was awesome to see, yet none saw it. The one winged knight battered Fallen aside and slashed with his sword! Two dissolved into light particles as the sword ripped through their protective wings and cut across their vulnerable bellies! Ever retreating the Knight kept his shield up and his sword darted here and there, stabbing, cutting through defences and picking out weak spots. A Fallen stabbed at him, but he blocked off the lance with his shield before stabbing into the unprotected belly with his sword! They never reached the bottom of the clouds. All that emerged was the One Winged Knight.

Lucia stood in shock and awe as the Legionnaires lifted the kids up on their shoulders and carried them out of the destroyed square, or took up station around the area to prevent escape. She never noticed the knife man creep up behind her. He raised the blade.

"Die, interfering pest!"

"No, die you murderer!" A javelin nearly took off her ear as the golden blade swept past and hit the man in the face! Lucia turned and noted her rescuer. The One Winged Angel made a gesture and his sword reappeared in his hand. With a nod in her direction he took off.

"We go north, to Fortuna!" he bellowed.

"Aye captain!" the Legionnaires bellowed as one and they all took off. The One Winged Angel turned to look one final time at her.

"I will see you again and get to the bottom of who you are!" he told her in a firm voice.

Then they were gone!

* * *

A little info regarding Sentinel releashed there. More will follow. Who he is and what he is are all to be revealed. Please review.


	11. Chapter 11

**A Family Reunion**

Sentinel walked like a man who had all day towards the large building. This part of town was quiet and had a low population count. Furthermore the buildings were large and spacious, which was something he needed. The building he was heading to had huge high ceilings on the first floor and smaller sets of rooms on the second floor. This was his base of operations for the time that he was here in Capulet and he needed a good place to hide out. Well hide out was the wrong word. He needed a place he could lie low for a brief period of time if he ever needed to. He didn't really tire, except mentally, he didn't really feel hunger or thirst either, but this was necessary. He remembered what he was going to do and sighed at the thing that had happened so long ago that had caused the breach.

"These people have lives! They live!"

"We do what we do to keep them safe! Don't you see that!"

"Yes! But we are not alive, not like them!"

"You cannot change what we are in ourselves."

"I will not be like you! I want to have a life of my own!"

"You can't just walk out on us like this!"

"I already have. When you know what it is you protect, then you may speak to me."

Sentinel grimaced as he recalled the fire in the argument. He had been intractable, and that was what had broken them all. He squared his shoulders. What had happened had happened, this was the present and he had to get on with it.

The door opened cautiously and he edged inside. With footfalls as silent as snowflakes falling he crept into the middle of the floor. Then he stood stock still.

"I'm home!" he roared.

Two sets of chuckling laughter came from the ceiling, which was shrouded in darkness. Before Sentinel could move for the lights, two shapes jumped down from the ceiling with a movement that nearly matched his own speed! Sentinel crashed to the floor with pair of blades at his throat, one across it, the other pointing at it!

"You're dead!" came a voice from above him.

"Got you completely off guard." Said another voice that was similar to the first.

Sentinel sighed. "You guys are getting better, but I knew you were up there all along. Even before I said I was home and one of you gave the game away by sniggering."

"I knew you'd let him know!"

"It's not my fault. You laughed too!"

Sentinel laughed. "What did I ever do to deserve a pair of brothers like you two?" he said when he'd caught his breath.

The two younger men took their blades off his neck and pulled him up. One of them was dressed in black, a leather coat, slacks, and a shirt which also had three white stripes across it. His brother was dressed completely in a white robe which had tails down the back of his legs and was belted across the middle. The belt and the edges of the robe were green. They wore on their faces a couple of guilty expressions.

"Did Aria tell you what we did?" the one in white asked.

"No Ian, she did say that you needed some restraint though."

The one in black waved a hand dismissively. "So we had a big rough and tumble fight with a Devil General, who cares!"

"I care Ty. Why?"

"It was leading a force of demons to attack a village outside of town!" Ian said in one quick sentence, "We had to intervene or lives would have been lost!"

Ty took over. "And a couple of the Messenger girls were watching, and a few human girls were too, so we had to, you know,…"

Sentinel raised an eyebrow slightly. "Show off." He finished for his sibling.

Ty nodded. At Sentinels eye roll he defended his actions. "Oh come on Justin, you know how cute Messenger girls are, them and the whole female population of this world."

"Most of them anyway." Ian added with a smile.

Ty grinned conspiratorially. "You should know anyway. I've seen how you try to flex in your good Messenger-General's presence!"

The look he got from his older brother would have frozen magma. Ian quickly grabbed Ty out of punching range. Suddenly Justin laughed. When the other two backed away hastily he calmed himself.

"You two are unbelievable. Messengers, you two have got no chance! They don't live here boys!"

"Sorry Justin."

Justin grinned from ear to ear. "Next time try to make sure the humans don't see you, unless it's not a battle. They'll see plenty of you in the future."

Back in the office Trish had finished recounting what Lucia had told her. Nero bolted straight for the phone, then stopped suddenly.

"What did the captain look like?" he said hoarsely.

"A One Winged Knight."

Nero shook, but turned to the phone and dialled a number. He never finished dialling because Vergil took it out of his hands.

"I think using a payphone would be better in this instance Nero."

"But the phone here wor-"

"I have to get some more pins as we seem to have run out," Vergil added before turning to look at Lady, "Care to join me Lady?"

Lady was looking at Trish. Dante was looking at Trish as well, very intently! Trish on the other hand was not meeting his gaze. "Yeah I got to check on my bike guys, see you later!"

With more than usual tact the other three left and as the silence descended it was just Dante and Trish left. Dante turned and went over to the fridge where he pulled out a beer.

"So, where all did you go?" he asked innocently.

Trish sighed. "Dante I'm sorry I was gone for so long but,"

"It's okay." Dante cut across her, "I didn't really mind so much that after everything we have done together you just went off and left me."

Trish sat down in the chair that was opposite Dante's favourite couch. "I didn't intend to be gone so long!" she replied, twisting her hands in her lap. "I really thought I would be back before now."

"Don't mind me, I had a great time hanging out in bars and looking for women."

Trish looked up at him sharply. He was lounging in his favourite slouched position, looking like he hadn't a care in the world. "I don't doubt that you didn't." she responded.

"And in Love Planet."

"I'm sorry I left you."

"I managed."

She looked at Dante with a sharp expression. "Not according to Vergil."

His face showed no emotion, but she could sense his fear. "What does Vergil know." He said in a superior voice.

"He knows enough to tell me the truth when I call to talk to you!" she snapped, "He told me that you wouldn't speak to anyone for two days after I'd left! Then you got drunk and started 

shouting that you hated women! You nearly threw Lady out as well when she commented, only Vergil stopped you!"

"You've been gone before. You said you wanted to see what it was like living as a human woman."

Trish was raging now. "You encouraged me! I had to learn how to behave, and hanging around with you was not the best way!"

"So I can't teach anyone how to act normal then, can I?"

"Oh grow up Dante, you're entire life and all that you love is not normal!"

"You're not my mother!"

"You're right I'm not. I want to be so much different than your mother!"

Dante leaned forward and looked her in the eyes. He was surprise to see that she was crying.

"I really, really wanted to be back here Dante, but I knew I couldn't come back until I had found out all that I had gone to learn!"

He wilted. "Why'd you go Trish?"

"I was trying to learn how to defeat Mundus for good," she said bitterly, "and no one knew. It took me all this time to find out his weakness! Even then it isn't much good and near impossible."

"I don't need to know how to defeat Mundus, Trish, I did it already!"

"But what if he comes back?"

"Then he'll have three Sparda's to deal with!"

"It mightn't be enough." Her tears were running down her face.

Dante sat back and his head fell into his hands. "It's been hell here without you around Trish, you don't know how much!"

She got up, went over to him and put her arms around him, her own eyes streaming.

"I'm back now Dante."

"I don't plan on letting you go any time soon!" he put his arms around her waist and kissed her gently.


	12. Chapter 12

In response to my readers concerns I have tried to put in better spacing. All I could do, unfortunatly, was put lines in between paragraphs. Tell me if this solves the problem at all. Anyway, dealing with the concerns of all the reviewers, More information about the three brother, Justin (Sentinel), Ty and Ian will come out in the next two chapters, that I can promise.

**A Known Name**

Half an hour later, the door of Devil May Cry opened just a jar and a head peaked in. Lady was astonished to see both Dante and Trish, fully clothed, poring over the map. She ducked her head out and waved the two boys over. Vergil and Nero quickly moved across the road.

"Is the coast clear?" Nero asked.

Lady rolled her eyes. "It's more than clear."

Vergil walked past her and went straight in. At his open return and entrance Trish and Dante both looked up.

Vergil spoke first. "I did not intend to find you here brother."

Nero who had entered after muttered to himself in a way that everyone could hear, "Yeah, expected you two to be upstairs."

Trish snorted in mirth. "Business before pleasure gentlemen."

"Anyway who says you need to go upstairs!" Dante added.

* * *

Trish wisely changed the subject. "I've had an idea relating to the idea of there being more than one."

"What did you get?" Lady walked up to the desk and bent over it beside Trish.

"Enzo said that there were two more, right?"

"Yeah."

"And they were together, yes?"

"Yes." Vergil wanted to get to the point.

"Where's your sense of the dramatic Vergil?" Dante asked mockingly and got a glare in return.

"Anyway," Trish continued with a glance at the two, "We gathered all the red, blue and purple pins we could get. Using them we started to try to map their movements."

"We got a couple of starter points anyway in the beginning." Dante continued. "We figured that Sentinel would be the most active of the three and that the other two would, from Enzo's account, likely stick together." He bent over the map again, "Keeping that in mind we were able to draw it down to a narrower search."

"Bearing in mind that they would need a central location." Nero added, getting the idea.

"Exactly."

"Yeah I get it now!" Lady caught the guess.

"What you get is this!" Dante finished triumphantly.

* * *

The map in front of them had plenty of dots on it, but they seemed to be in a coherent order, rather than compared to the mess that they had been before. Now they were colour coded and linked by a series of red lines that Dante had drawn with a marker. In some areas was more than one pin.

"Blue, we know, is our friend right?"

"Yeah. The purple and red are his associates. Using this we can hopefully outline their movements."

It had worked. Now the situation was a whole lot clearer. The duo were definitely the less active of the two groups and they seemed to have taken over one entire area of the city. The rest though was all Sentinel. He got around pretty quick it would seem. His markers were dotted all over the remaining half of the city, some of the more pressing matters had arrived on his plate. Only recently someone had found an entire platoon of Elites melting away in a street. By the time a Hunter had gotten there of course, the lot had melted completely. A police background check had revealed a lot of temporal rifts that were still fading. Worse, a magician had come into the area as well and had mentioned the fading presence of a devil knight and something else. Burnt patches along the ground were also attributed to the mysterious thing. This worried Dante no end. He knew his perception was good, but a magician was someone who was supposed to be able to tell for definite what was happening. No such luck.

* * *

"At least we know where they should have their base." Vergil commented.

"Yeah. Here." Trish pointed out an area in the near centre of the city. "it's one of the more upper class areas of the city, well the lower upper class. But what is mainly true of it, is that it has large ground floors and smaller upper floors."

Vergil raised his eyebrows. "What is so odd about that? Dante's office/home here is exactly the same."

Dante smirked. "It was an old hotel the owner gave to me after demons destroyed it. I killed them and refurbished it."

"Vergil does have a point. This may be a piece of useless information, as soon as it could be a very important point." Lady pointed out.

"True." Trish back her up.

"We should check it out you know," Nero threw in, "You could call in a few favours and get one of the guys to check it out."

"Sounds like a plan." Lady chimed.

Trish got out the phone book. "Who lives in that area?" she flipped a couple of pages, the stopped. "Oh no!"

"What?"

"It's old Coombs."

* * *

Old Coombs was old. But he was very old in a profession that that was very dangerous. Work it out. He was also very attached to the old fashioned ways, which meant he carried a lot of bladed weapons and a suit of antiquated armour. The whole thing, when people saw him, made rather a joke out of him. Nevertheless, he was one of the best swordsmen in the city, despite his age. He had coached many of the younger Hunters and taught them all. However he also liked to believe that he knew best in every situation. Needless to say, when Dante had turned up with a beautiful demoness at his side, the old man had taken it upon himself to tell Dante the ins and outs of relationships and that hanging out with demon females was not the best way to go about having a happy life. Now Old Coombs was suffering slightly from a touch of deafness, or everyone thought that. Whatever it was he had said it in a low voice that was loud enough to shake the rafters. So everyone in the building had heard his story. Trish had been so embarrassed, even more so when Dante had started an argument with him. Now she couldn't bring herself to talk to him ever again.

* * *

In the end it was Vergil who did the talking. The old man didn't know Vergil, although he knew that "That Sparda" had a brother. The entire group sat in silence waiting for his reply. The phone rang.

"Yes?" Vergil answered.

"Hey Vigil?"

"It's Vergil." Vergil replied tonelessly.

"What?"

Vergil cupped his hand over the speaker. "This is one of the best Hunters in the city?" At Dante's nod he turned his attention to the speaker and spoke clearly and distinctly, using the voice that he reserved for the mentally unstable.

"Yes. It. Is. Me."

"Well hells yeah, I know it is. Anyway I found your boys!"

"You, Did?"

"Yeah! I got the address here if you want it?"

"Please."

Vergil wrote it down. "Thank. You. Sir."

"Don't mention it boy. I'm just glad you ain't that Sparda kid. The guy is rude as anything."

"I know. Thank you again." Vergil hung up.

* * *

"Okay!" Dante stood and walked over to Vergil. Grabbing the paper he read it, then grinned. "Finally! Time to take the fight to them!" He strode over to a door at the side of his office.

"Is he normally this excited about going off to face off against three beings, one of which stabbed him through a wall on his own sword so hard I had to absorb it off?" Nero asked all in one breath. The other three looked at him with an odd look on each of their faces.

"Come on people," Dante called over to them. "Arm up!"

Inside the room were all of his Devil Arms, all lined up on the walls in category. Gauntlets and Greaves, swords, guns and others. All of them ready for the taking. Dante grinned. "Let's rock!"

* * *

Like it? Loath it? please review and tell me so.


	13. Chapter 13

A long chapter this time around. A slight amount of information is released about the three unknowns, namely a bit more about the two younger brothers. New spacing idea too!

* * *

**A Second Battle**

Subtlety was not Dante's style, neither was it Vergil's. Nero did have some tact, but he too charged into danger willingly. The two girls walked closely behind them. All of them had chosen several new weapons from Dante's locker room of them. Dante carried Rebellion, of course, Cerberus, Nevan, Ifrit and Ebony and Ivory. He clanked as he walked. Vergil carried his trademark Yamato, but he also carried the Beowulf gauntlets and greaves. He had no other weapons, considering them immaterial. Nero's arm buzzed with electricity and pulsed with black power. Absorbed in it he carried Alastor and Modus, the sword of Asmodeus. Trish strode along confidently with Sparda, Luce and Ombra and Gilgamesh. Lady, not being of the devil persuasion merely human, stuck with her own guns, but had gotten to love Pandora. She had almost discovered all the variations that were on offer and with the whole lot, she clanked almost as much as Dante!

* * *

"Here we are."

"This is it?" Nero was slightly sceptical. The house before them was large fronted with plenty of windows and from what they could gather a large room just inside.

"So what's the plan?" Lady looked at Dante.

"We kick in the door and shoot the first thing we see, be it male, female, human, devil, angel or inanimate object." Vergil said in a monotone. "Right Dante?"

Dante stared at his brother for a few more moments. Then he turned back to the door in front of him with a grunt. "Yeah… what he said!"

The doors burst open and the five immediately went in. Dante and Nero charged, Vergil walked and Lady and Trish crept. No sooner had they entered the house than they heard a voice out of the darkness above them.

"Trespassers will be prosecuted, now back off!"

Lady flipped the lights in response.

Revealed by the lights above were two young men standing on the ceiling.

"You weren't kidding Dante!" whispered Lady.

The two looked at one another. "Dante?" asked one querulously.

"Dante Sparda?" added the second. "Here?"

"At last!" exclaimed the first. The two jumped down from the roof in one quick motion that left small dents in the floor! One was dressed in black, the other in white and green. "We can test you ourselves!"

Dante's eyes narrowed. "These are his sidekicks, I can tell! He called it a test too!"

The black drew two black handguns and shrugged his shoulders so that his sword hilt could be seen! The green drew out a long spear with a long blade!

"Battle time!" he said with a grin.

* * *

Immediately they hurled themselves at the five who had invaded their domain! Vergil vaguely saw the spear come flying his way and Yamato leaped to intercept! Blade clashed on blade as they moved with a speed that left all in awe! Dante and Nero both fired at the black clad one, who responded with a fusillade from his weapons. Both guns spat out rounds in a never ending stream! Trish and Lady gaped for a few moments before they both leaped to assist Vergil. Even as Trish brought the huge blade of the Sparda down at his back, the haft of the spear shot out and hit her in the stomach! Green flashed as he leaped into the air using the spear as a boost to propel himself further! Lady opened up with her submachine guns only to have him dodge like a fury. Vergil created a score of his summoned swords as well and they sliced through the air like hot needles. The boy halted on the wall and spun his spear like a baton and no projectile reached him! Then he came down from the ceiling like a shot from a cannon and smashed into Nero! Dante momentarily distracted felt a fist hit him in the side of the jaw! Blackie had thrown his right gun into the air and hit Dante with that fist! At the same time his left forced Vergil and Lady to dive to one side. As he hit Dante he spun, caught the gun again and covered his associate as they dived across one anothers paths!Then they were up and the black had his sword out. A short sword with a thin blade it nevertheless met Yamato with a spark as the Dark Slayer recovered! Greenie had jumped up and he fended off both Dante and Nero with ease! Quick smooth strikes easily knocked aside Red Queen and Rebellion and the haft landed smack on Dante's rump, sending him across the room!

He laughed. "Big bro wasn't kidding when he said you were a barrel of laughs Son of Sparda!"

"Well then here's my next trick!" Dante faced him again and this time he raised his empty hand and strummed Nevan! The pulse of electricity, along with a cloud of bats cracked the spear wielding warrior in the head and he was hurled across the room! With a crash he hit the wall.

"Yes!" Dante roared. "No!" he moaned as the warrior got back up again and cracked his neck.

Nero had to dive to one side as the spear shot past him and hit Dante right in the chest! Pinned to the wall Dante could only struggle. Nero turned back to the greenie, just in time to see him draw out two tonfa blades and start to spin them with a deadly precision!

"Oh no" he moaned to himself.

* * *

Vergil was backed against the wall as the black coated warrior spun his shorter sword with a speed and dexterity that would have amazed him if he hadn't been so absorbed in trying to keep it away from himself! Even as Lady and Trish tried to tackle him from behind he pulled out the scabbard too and whipped them with it! Continuing his spin he met Yamato blow for blow! Trish jumped up with a raging look on her face and with a quick movement she was wearing the Gilgamesh gauntlets, mask and greaves. Vergil knew what she was going to do and he was right! She threw her arm back and the thrusters appeared on the side of the gauntlet! With a roar it began to charge. The warrior half turned at the sound and Vergil caught a little whimper at her expression.

"Dodge this!" Trish bit out!

The blast sent them both flying. The difference being that Vergil was expecting it and he wan't! He careened out of sight and hit a pillar!

* * *

Ian saw his bother sail through the air as he battled Nero. "Ty!" he screamed. No answer as his brother hit the hanging lamps overhead and crashed to the centre of the floor! In an instant he was at his side. "Ty get up brother!" he said as he shook his face. Ty gave a small moan of pain. Ian felt his inside go numb. And then his rage overtook him!

* * *

With a roar that shook the entire building the green warrior jumped up and spun! With crossed blades he caught Red Queen as it came down on him! Nero stared for the briefest of moments into eyes that were white flames! The he was cast aside! The warrior gestured with a hand and Dante was released as the spear leaped back into his hand. Even as he gestured the others were leaping. Just as he caught it, the haft shot out and hooked all of them around the ankles and dumped the on the ground! Cerberus attacked with a flash of ice cold wind! Greenie turned on Dante and smashed at him with his long weapon, forcing the Dark Knight to keep out of his reach! A reversal, and Lady had the butt stabbed into her foot tripping her! 

Vergil got a slash across the chest that cut through his coat and shirt right down to the bone! Trish jut managed to charge her arm in time to avoid having it sliced off! Even so the warrior switched his attack to Dante. The Devil Hunter barely made it inside this moving blade and stave! In a movement that could only be described as lightning, he had one of his tonfa blades out as the spear was flung out, curving back of its own accord! He attacked Dante with both blades in a flurry! They spun and stabbed and flicked and slashed! He never relented!

With a roar Nero triggered, electricity encircling his body as Alastor appeared in his right hand! He charged forward and attacked with the Devil arm! Lady opened fire with all her weaponry and Vergil joined Nero, while Trish went for Dante! The green warrior tried to intercept them all, but his spear was knocked off course by a bullet! Just as his brother managed to sit up the warrior was impaled from all three sides!

* * *

Ty let out a scream of rage, fury and fear as he saw his twin collapse! His failure to use range weapons had been his downfall, true to form! The hatred he felt at this moment obscured everything and just as Ian hit the ground he leapt!

* * *

Dante snapped up one of his guns and drilled a shot into him even before he got close enough! There was a crackle of electricity as Trish unleashed her charged form! Lightning cascaded over her and Nero, even as Nero switched the power of Alastor for the speed of Modus. Dante and Vergil also triggered, Vergil activating Beowulf as he did so. They all charged! The sound of their clash echoed into the night! The black coat spun and moved with an inhuman grace, speed and deadliness as he jumped and dodged between the lot of them! But he had been injured and was not up to full speed! A flying kick from Vergil cracked across his back and sent him skidding across the floor to his brother! They all saw him crouch beside his brothers head, on his knees for a moment and Dante felt a stir of pity. This was maybe too much. The crack of a gunshot and the pain as the bullet hit his forehead was enough to change his mind! With a savage growl the devil knight charged! The man stood there, awaiting his death at the side of his brother.

* * *

Suddenly the skylight exploded! A blue coated figure landed in between the furious Son of Sparda and his victims! Sentinel met Dante's charge with a single sword stroke. The Devil Hunter was battered aside like a toy! Vergil's slash was caught on the blade, up and thrown away! Vergil followed as a boot hit him in the chin! Nero received a fist to the jaw that cast him across the room! Trish halted and stared at those burning white eyes!

"Stay away from my brothers!" the voice was more a roar than a growl, and more spoken than shouted!

Lady's fusillade of shots were caught by the spinning blade before he pivoted on one heel and a shot sliced across her upper arm! With a cry she dropped! Vergil was up in a moment and charged! He was smacked away by a blow so fast he never even saw the after image! Nero fired off Blue Rose and the bullets were deflected by the blade! The three devil triggers faded and now they realised that he could take them all and not get even wounded!

"You two!" Sentinel barked to the pair behind him, just as the wounded green warrior got to his feet. "Go!"

They nodded and jumped! Even injured they had the strength to reach the skylight, where there was a flash! Then two shapes flew off into the night. Sentinel turned his attention back to his enemies.

"Sons of Sparda! Good thing you are all here. We will next meet when I am ready to contact you from my end, but for now leave here. Where we go you will never know until I contact you! Abandon your pursuit of me and mine!"

He too jumped to the ceiling, by the paused on the inside of the edge.

"In the meantime, if you want to know more about us, contact your friend, Liv Sylvase. She knows more than she lets on! Until our next meeting, farewell!" he was gone.

* * *

"We are in serious trouble guys."

"Yeah, but this time we are going to get all our information!"

"Dante!" he turned to see Vergil crouched beside Lady fixing her shoulder, "Never again Dante."

"What, you don't like a good fight?" Dante sneered.

Vergil growled, his devil side not fully gone yet. "I like at good fight anytime, but I appreciate having better intelligence than this crude mistake of a battle!"

"If they'd taken us seriously in the first place," Lady ground out between clenched teeth, "we'd all be dead now!"

Nero was furious as well, but for a different reason. "They were toying with us Dante! Him especially!"

"Dante," Trish laid her hand on his arm, "never again are we going to attack wounded people."

Dante growled in response, and his eyes flashed red as sparks danced over him. He was close to triggering. Trish narrowed her eyes and spoke quietly, but effectively. "Get yourself under control! Don't let your anger at this situation consume you!"

Dante turned away from her for a brief moment. They all waited for him, and Trish put a hand on his shoulder. He sighed.

"Trish, take Lady back to the office please and bandage her up. Vergil, Nero you're with me. We have an information broker to see."

* * *

What do you think? Let me know. Also let me know if you know where Asmodeus is from!


	14. Chapter 14

Thank you all so much for the reviews. This is a long chapter, and one that also reveals the story of the three enemies our heroes have been facing all this time. Actually SPoM, Pandora has 666 combination, although you don't get to use them all in the game. Spacing problem solved!

* * *

**A Meeting and Revelation**

Dante drove almost as fast as Vergil, with the exception that he didn't do so unless they were outside the city limits. That is to say, Nero didn't actually throw up. When he managed to right himself after a particularly sharp bend, he noticed that Dante had a sharp expression on his face. Over the wind roaring he managed to shout, "Again, why are we doing as he said?"

"Information!" was the only reply he got.

Vergil, ever the one who could actually understand things, turned in his seat to face his younger brother. "What he means is that we need all the information on our enemy that we can get."

"Also I'm a little thick that she didn't tell us that she knew the truth in the first place."

"I'm not sure that would have been a good thing." Muttered Nero, "You would have done it anyway."

Dante, wisely, declined to comment. Nero had been on edge ever since he heard that there was a force of angels headed to Fortuna. _And towards Kyrie_, Dante thought. And considering how Nero felt about her, Dante was surprised that he hadn't gone to her side already. It was what he would have done in the situation.

"I still don't quite see that we need to go see her." Nero again voiced his objection. "Considering that he himself said she knew, then there must be other people who know as well. This could be a trap."

Dante didn't answer. Instead it was Vergil.

"You do have a point, but we don't have the time to go searching for the information ourselves," he said "We could very well end up searching until the Last Battle."

"Assuming that that even happens!"

"For now let us assume it does."

"Regardless," Dante cut across, "She does know more than she lets on. As Ver said himself, know your enemy."

The familiar cathedral came into view. The car screeched to a halt and the three jumped out.

Merely stopping to greet the priest the three half devils went straight to the room at the back and Dante simply kicked in the door! It did no good. Liv was sitting at her desk looking at the door. As it fell in her eyes watched it fall slowly until it hit the floor. As the priests came running over she spoke quietly.

"No Padre, I don't think that any calls to the local law enforcement will be necessary. Or to the guardians either. I will deal with this."

The priest nodded, wide eyed at the furious look that Dante was hurling at her. Then he turned and left and Liv focused her eyes on the Sparda's.

"Pick it up when you come in." she said in a voice which brooked no disobedience.

Dante snorted and stepped over it. Vergil did likewise and Nero was the one who picked up the door and set it against the hinges. The three boys walked over to the seats and sat. Dante glowering, Vergil with his blank expression and Nero with an expression of attention to detail.

What happened next surprised them all. She got up and went over to a case that sat on the counter to her left. There was a small chest on it and she picked it up and brought it over to the desktop. It was placed directly in front of them sot they could get a good look at it.

"Do you know what this contains?" she asked.

"A more apt question would be, do we care!" Dante retorted. She ignored him.

"This contains something I never wanted to do again after I had to do it once before." She opened the small, intricately woven chest. Inside were a pair of revolver pistols. Beautifully designed, with gold filigree over the handgrips and etchings along the barrels, which were long for the type of weapon, they carried with them an air of tranquillity, somehow getting the message across that they were never used, save against evil. The marking on the barrels and grips were obviously a type of language, but it was unrecognisable to any of the three Devil Hunters in the room.

"I had to get these out a few days ago. I know that you have heard reports of attacks by both demons and angels, and that there was a large incursion on Drumary Island which developed into a fierce battle between the Vie de Marli, the countries guards, a battalion of Legionairres, under the command of their captain, Angelo Credo." there was a grunt of confirmation from Nero as the other two looked at him. That was why he hadn't ran off to Fortuna ages ago.

"And," she continued, "that the demons had been summoned by a man, who was executed by said captain." She sat again. "Therefore, I know that you cannot dispute that part of my evidence, thus you know that I am getting ready for the Last Battle."  
"We are here instead in regards to the one known as Sentinel." Vergil added.

"I know that too." She added.

"I had already deduced that you would throw all your efforts into finding the one known as Sentinel, and I knew that you would eventually get into combat with him."

"Them." Dante added. For a moment he thought she stiffened as if hit by an electric charge.

"So they are all here." She said, so quietly it was almost inaudible.

"What's more," Dante continued, standing, "he told us himself that you knew more that you had let on. So I'm really, really thick with you right now!"

"Did he tell you that?" she asked in a playful voice before it hardened at her next words, "I thought he might. And he was right. And I believe I told you to sit!"

Those words with their school teacher harmonics folded his les under him and the heir of Sparda sat as he was told to.

"Good. So the one known as Sentinel has shown himself and all his to you, has he? Have you found out what or who he is yet?"

"No, we have been unsuccessful on that front." Nero answered.

"Well he is the one known as Sentinel and he is neither Devil, Angel or Human."

"That much we know.

"Tell us something we don't!" Dante added.

She glared at him. "He really is Sentinel! How does that sound?"

"You said he was a legend." Vergil said quietly.

"So was Sparda when I met him!" she shot back.

Dante laughed. "Now you're lying. You can't be any older than me at the latest!"

Liv gave him a withering look. "Don't let appearances deceive you, I'm older than I look."

Dante flashed a glare at his twin, whose reply said, I didn't know!

"He did fight with Sparda back in the Human-Devil war. He is two thousand years old! But his real name is not Sentinel." She paused before she continued. "His real name is Justin Astartes. Both himself and his two younger brothers, whom I believe are the other two gentlemen you fought in his headquarters, are the Hands of the Gods!"

There was a stark silence, broken only by the chiming of the bell of the hour. When it had finished, Dante spoke.

"What?"

"You heard me. The Hands of the Gods, their champions, the living manifestations of their will, the ones who are indefatigable, indomitable, and all but invincible!"

"We weakened the two younger ones quickly enough in the last fight." Vergil said with a quiet voice. Now that he knew who his enemies were, the unknown factor was gone. She laughed, dispelling his hopes.

"They let you. The Hands do not fall so easily. Even if you get them to bleed, or, even worse, light up their eyes, they still have hundreds of untapped energy reserves left! I have only limited information on them, but it is all in here." She passed over a book she had been resting on the desk beside her. Dante took it and opened it. Inside, right where it opened at his fingertips he saw the pictures of the men they had fought only an hour ago. _Justin Astartes_, ran the caption over the picture of the man he had crossed swords with that fateful day in the office. It was startlingly lifelike, even down to the dark ice eyes and look on his face.

"He's their chief, The Hand. The other two are his subordinates, second to his strength. Astartes outranks even Mundus and Asterius. He is the most powerful being known to man. His brother Ian is next, the oldest of the twins. Ty is the younger, but they are even in strength."

Their pictures were similar, except that Ty had a crazy grin on his face and Ian was a little more subdued, but the same mischievious fire raged in his eyes. The next page was torn out.

"What happened here?" Dante looked up.

Liv sighed and leant up against the side of the counter. "Simple, there aren't as many as there were back in the day. Gradually, any mortal hands were allowed to live out their lives in peace until death as their role was taken over by the Astartes brothers."

Dante turned another page and was confronted by an impossible sight. The next entry was Sparda!

"What's this?" he croaked out. Vergil was silent and Nero was intrigued, having never seen Sparda's true visage before. It was the twins father, in all his hellish glory. Liv spoke quietly. "At the time of the war, your father became a Hand, their captain in fact. It was what enabled him to defeat the horde with only a few at his back. Do you honestly think that he could have done it all alone? No he had supporters, but in the darkest of hours he fought as a Hand of the Gods. He was the one who taught Astartes. He retired after a while though, left the job to him."

It was double picture, one side was Sparda's devil form, the other, his human form. The human form was exactly as Dante remembered it. The white hair wept back completely, not spiked like Vergil, but slicked back. One eye covered by a monacle, the other still as penetrating as it had ever been. He carried Yamato in his left hand and he bore Rebellion in his right.

"Astartes told us he'd find us next time." Vergil's voice woke Dante from his reverie and back to the present.

Liv sighed as she answered. "Then you will never find him until he wishes it."

Nero asked the question that everyone wanted to know. "So who's side are they on?"

"They are on no one's side Nero. They do the Gods bidding, but they follow their own will most of the time. If need be, they follow the orders they are given to the letter, and if those orders are to open the gates of Paradise, then they will do so without hesitation." She paused a moment before carrying on. "But if I were to hazard a guess, I would say that they are trying to prevent the end of all life as we know it."

* * *

Well, well. At last the truth is revealed. The three brothers are in fact the Hands of the Gods, which would explain their incredible power. More on the Sparda part of the story to follow. Oh yes and please review. I will cut down on the use of exclamation marks in future, I promise. Back to college on monday, so I will be starting a couple of new projects if it's possible, but continue to expect new updates.


	15. Chapter 15

Thanks to all reviewers! You amke me so happy when you do review. I can't believe I just said tht, that was so cheesy. Sorry about the delay, I'm back to college now, but that will mean more chapters so stay turned friends. SPoM, yes suprisingly Dante does indeed have a lot of hidden depths. His patience is not quite as incredible as the rocklike Vergil, but yes, he is capable of being unhappily patient when needs be. Catharsis25, thank you for so many, so quick. In actual fact as I believe I pointed out in the last chapter, Justin Astartes is actually very powerful. Even used simultaneously, difficult, Quicksilver and Dopperganger would not have been enough to defeat him. As seen in chapter 13, A Second Battle, Justin can take on six and win easily. This chapter however has to do with the devil side of things. Read on.

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**A Council of War**

Acheron moved like the wind as he sank lower into the Underworld. It was here that he had returned as soon as he had seen his elites go out on another frenzy of attack and murder in an attempt to draw out the Hands. He knew what would happen to them. Nothing less than the Dark Emperor himself, or the whole demon army, could defeat that monster in hand to hand combat. He laughed nervously to himself. It was a sign of his preoccupation that he had made a pun. Hand to Hand. Here it was that the Dark Emperor himself had called the entire upper ranks of his empire to himself. Acheron had been dreading this for some time. Mundus was sure to call him forward to report. It would be a humiliation he could not endure!

When he arrived in the shining white hall, he was disturbed to see that there were not as many as he would have expected here. In the centre was the great statue that Mundus used to rest when he was plotting his next move. The Dark Lord himself was sure to question them all. Acheron looked around at his assembled comrades of darkness and smiled to himself. They were all so proud and vain, they could not imagine being on the same line as himself, he who was poised to take over the reigns of Mundus, should the Dark Emperor fall.

"Well Acheron, I see you have finally crawled out of the hole you were hiding in."

Acheron sighed, his happy reverie interrupted. "Judicar, how nice of you to join me here."

Judicar was another Devil Knight, save that he was coloured all in a red the colour of blood. He wielded a sword, like most of them did, but he was peculiar in that the sword had two separate blades. Nevertheless this did not stop him from ripping humans to shreds! He well lived up to his nickname, the Weight of Judgement. However to listen to him was a bit of a drag, all he cared about was his own abilities and successes. That and how many succubae were drooling over him. The actual truth of the matter was that none were. Succubae as a rule did not lust for powerful devils, they were entirely concerned with themselves and their own needs. Acheron disliked Judicar for many reasons, but his ego was the main one.

"So the big boss himself takes me over to one side and tells me, "Judicar my boy I'll be picking my right hand for this new campaign and I want you to be there", so I said to him, "Sure thing boss, you can always rely on me," and he just smiled, so I think I got the job." Judicar smiled at the others. "Sorry for you fellas, really I am, but the great Emperor only picks the best."

The gritted teeth of Trevas, another Knight almost mangled the words as they came out. "I'm sure he does Judicar, I'm sure he does. By the way, you know that it was the court jester role he was talking about?"

There was a general chorus of laughter at the black armoured Knights words. Trevas was an oddity in that he wielded a morning star mace, to devastating effect, that and the fact that he never bragged or spoke out of turn, he merely acted. To hear a joke from him was a rarity, but then again Judicar got on everyone's nerves.

They were joined by one of the female Generals from the other side of the room. Everybody knew of Zauba'a, the General who used the power of the air to battle. Her prowess was formidable, but her present incarnation was her true form, that of a woman wearing a cape that swirled around her shoulders and body, obscuring all from prying eyes. Even so her face was that of a normal woman, but with red eyes and green hair which cascaded above her head, blown by an unseen and unfelt breeze. Like all Generals, she wielded no weapon, but relied on her own inherent powers and unarmed combat.

"What has happened now?" she asked in a voice of weariness, weariness with the antics of the martial Knights.

"Judicar believes himself to be chosen for the Emperor's right hand my lady." Acheron said with a smile. The evil grin that spread across the face of the Devil would have chilled anyone to the bone!

"Ubel, I believe you will want to hear this!" she called back across the room

At the sound of her voice a tall General detached himself from the group he was in and made his way over towards them. A tall rocky figure, he had the general shape of a man, but as he got closer they saw that the craggy spikes that protruded from his shoulders, wrists and knees were not the kind that could ever be human, but devil. He stamped his way over to them and they could see that he had more than a stony façade. His entire body was made up of rock and stone and sands. The rows of stones on his chest could be fired, thus making them lethal weapons for any battle he would take part in.

"Why, little Knight, do you think you will be the right hand?" he said leaning down so that his face was level with the Knight. Judicar stared back unafraid. To be a Devil Knight was to focus almost entirely on your martial prowess, thus making you a match for any demon or devil.

"It has been promised me by the Great Emperor." He answered defiantly.

"Wrong!" Ubel smashed his studded fist into the ground in front of him, making the earth tremble in accordance with his power over it. "It is mine!"

"WHO DOES BATTLE IN MY PRESENCE!" the voice was the one that struck fear into the hearts of all under his will. The Dark Emperor Mundus. Instantly all who were there turned their vision to the giant statue. Over it were three red dots floating in mid air, connected by red lightning They grew and waxed, growing stronger and more powerful, until the light that flowed from them formed itself into a solid form, the form of the Dark Emperor.

His voice, when he next spoke, was not as loud, but just as commanding. "I called you all here for t listen to my commands, and what do you do, you battle it out with one another to see who is more deserving of my good intent!"

"But my Lord," shouted Ubel, "This one said that he was to become your right hand! You have promised that to me!"

"What? That rank is mine!" screamed Judicar drawing his sword. The other Generals began to fire up their powers, but the Knights began to grip their weapons.

"That rank is promised to me!" claimed another General, Shibbach the Vermin.

"ENOUGH!" came the command of Mundus. When all was quiet he spoke again. "That rank is mine to give out. It goes to whom I will. Not to someone who thinks they deserve it!"

There was a roar of discontent from amongst the assembled demons, who were none too happy about Mundus' decision. Several of those who had been promised the place of power at his side began to mutter amongst themselves whether or not Mundus should live after this treachery. The Demon Emperor was all too aware of their murmurings and he acted quickly. At his surreptitious signal hundreds of Elites began to enter the room behind him. Twelve Hell Vanguards also entered. The Generals who owed him their allegiance also went over to his side. Left behind were about twenty Generals and all the Knights. This troubled the Devil Emperor. The Knights were far more dangerous than any gave them credit for. The accursed Sparda had been a Knight. Even unpowered by the Gods he would have presented a serious challenge. His son, Dante, he had proven to be enough to destroy a weakened Mundus, weakened because Mundus had had to put down that insolent rebel Nelo Angelo after he tried to fight back.

"I have chosen my champion, because I feel he will be best suited to killing the Astartes and the spawn of Sparda!"

At that tempers quieted. They now knew what they had to do to curry his favour, kill his chief enemies.

"For that reason I have chosen Sammael, the Hellhound of the Underworld!"

They all fell silent and some agreed with his decision. Sammael was well known for his ferocity and he would be a formidable opponent to any fighter.

"He has already departed on his mission, now it is time for yours. Whist one of your newest members, Agnus the Summoning Alchemist, goes and engineers the beginning of the war, you and all of your are to begin the war. Now go!"

As all the devils rushed off to perform their newest missions Mundus beckoned two figures over to himself. One was a big bulky man with long hair and a monocle, the other a tall bald man with mismatched eyes. As they approached him he spoke to them both.

"I have forgiven you your recent rebellions in the understanding that you both know what it was you escaped."

At their nod he continued. "Good. So you are more than happy to go to the human realm and to begin to open the gates for me."

The two knelt before him. "As we live, we serve!" they said as one.

"Good. Now go, you have much to do."

As the two turned to leave, they transformed into their real forms. One of them was Angelo Agnus, the other Jester. They departed on a mission to begin a war!

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Review, please review.

I feel it may be a good idead for me to point out where I got those names. Acheron is a river in hell where the damned are thrown, Judicar means the Final Judge, Trevas means "dark" in Portugese (ie O Cavaleiro de Trevas, the Dark Knight) Shibbach is a name I got from Derek Landy's Skulduggery Pleasent, Playing with Fire, (a class book read it, read it, please don't kill me Derek) and comes from Irish mythology, Ubel is German for "Evil" and the name Zauba'a is a demonic wind from Arabian mythology. I own nothing, just the OC's.


	16. Chapter 16

Thank you to all reviewers, you brighten up my day immeasurably. SPoM, yes I did hear that Arkham and Nightmare were one and the same. But from my depiction of the Grecian universe of Devil May Cry, any souls that got to the Underworld are transformed into demons by the Hells. Same with Credo, except he's an angel. More fighting.

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**A Link in the Chain**

The three boys drove in silence. The news that they had been fighting the wrong guys for almost a month was still a bit of a shock. Dante in particular was slightly perturbed by the news. His lax attitude was beginning to get to, even his own nature. While he had been chasing a red herring, a dangerous problem could be growing stronger. For a moment he could have felt angry, but instead he felt shame. He remembered all those little dots marking the paper of the map. The Hands had been doing a better job of protecting the city then he had! And he was supposed to be the protector.

"Why did they call it a test?" the voice startled him out of his reverie.

"Who? Dante responded.

"The Hands, why did they call it a test?" This was Nero who asked the question, whilst still half distracted by his own thoughts.

Vergil answered in a voice which told them that he was shaken by the revelation as well. "Maybe they wanted to see if we were as strong as our father." He kept his eyes focused firmly on the road ahead. "I can't understand it myself."

"I agree with you there Verge, I thought it was a mockery in the first instance, but now I'm not so sure."

Silence descended once again.

Suddenly there was an explosion in front of them! Vergil's lightning fast reflexes threw them across the street out of reach of the explosion. Even as the car came to a halt near the entrance of a building site, the three were jumping out and grabbing weapons. Dante never even went to the bathroom without a weapon (in fact Lady was sure he shaved with Rebellion), Nero's most powerful weapon was attached to him and Vergil, well nobody ever asked. The concrete walls of the building were up, the basic floors were attached and there were cranes all over the site along with scaffolding and various bits of machinery. In the centre of this mess someone had performed a blood sacrifice using a young woman and now the entire building was filling up with demons!

Dante on seeing the mess. "Oh bloody hellfire!"

The three smashed into the en masse demons with a speed that left Hells blinking and trying to see where the noise had come from even as their heads were falling off.

Dante spun, hacking up a Greed, and lunged, nailing a Scarecrow to the wall. He jumped up into the air and began to fire with Ebony and Ivory. The hail of bullets tore anything that was in their way to shreds! With a flip he went upside down and did a bullet rain. Instant demon mash. Vergil moved like a wraith! Sometimes he would be on the other side of the site and demons on the far side would be crumbling to ash. Even as he was sliding Yamato back into its sheath, he summoned six spectral swords which subsequently blasted their way into the various demons which attempted to attack him. A couple of Marionettes made the mistake of getting too close. With movements almost too quick to follow Vergil had turned himself and slashed through all of them with one swing! The soul cases exploded. Nero was fighting like a madman! Quite often he didn't bother with the sword, he just grabbed with the Bringer and smashed Scarecrows to a pulp. He had never forgotten what those things did to Fortuna, and he followed it up with harsh action! None got near him, as the force of the blows hitting the ground would send all other demons near flying. When he did draw Red Queen, the blade would blaze in response to his anger. Blue Rose sang in the dark as the lethal shots made short work of any attackers.

As the three Devil Hunters laid into the demons other Hunters came to assist. One of these was a mage, Dante vaguely remembered him, Lucy something. In actual fact his name was Lucius, but everyone called him "Lucy". Him and another swordsman came running. The other guy was completely unknown to the red clad hunter, but he wasn't half bad. That lithe sword of his made short work of anyone who got past his partners defences. Lucius would send blasts of light from his forearms that could easily collapse a Scarecrow, whose bug composition would instantly flee intense light, or a Hell, which could be flash fried, by the blaze. Against the Marionette a blast of fire would suffice, their wooden casing catching fire quite quickly. At this point the demons mobilised their most fearsome aspect. Out of the air came dozens of Mephistoes and Death Scythes.

The tide turned. Dante hadn't got a shotgun with him, Vergil could only launch so many summoned swords, the damned things moved too fast for Lucy to blast with light or air based attacks. Nero's arm was the only thing that was quickly effective against them right now, and he was unable to take them all down himself. As they all darted for cover Dante saw the mage start to do a summoning runic portal.

"No!" he screamed, "Don't do it."

It was too late. The connection complete the portal solidified and an angelic prince came out. Huge, writhed in flames that burned with a scarlet intensity he waved a single hand and three Mephistoes burst into flames. With the whole lot of them focusing on him he began to fire dozens of the fireballs into the midst of them in a manoeuvre to bring them down. Despite all their power Mephistoes had not the strength to tackle an Archangel, especially one who was destroying their various comrades. Their attempts to flee were cut off as the Archangel began to open other gates to allow Legionnaires to cut off their retreat! In a few seconds the demons were gone.

Out of nowhere six Legionnaires were destroyed! The Archangel turned to examine the new development. A tall silver armoured Devil Knight stood there, his halberd embedded in the Legionnaires spine.

"You interfere with my work here Arch!"

"You are not supposed to attack the humans Knight."

The knight laughed. "I do as my master commands. He commands I kill humans and attack them, then I do as he commands, however distasteful it is."

The archangel was intrigued. "What do you mean?"

"They present no challenge. For a being who has spent his entire life training in martial prowess, a slaughter is not a sufficient challenge."

With a short sharp laugh the Arch angel continued, "I am here now, do you consider me a sufficient challenge?"

Casting a dubious eye over the flaming Seraph Lord the knight replied cautiously, "Maybe."

The Arch was about to throw himself at the Knight when another voice cut across them. "Perhaps this would be better if you guys went elsewhere? After all I don't quite think that you need to be here."

Looking down, the devil and the angel found that a red clad figure was looking up at them with his arms crossed across his chest.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Dante."

Both of the two figures shut up quite quickly. They both knew who Dante was, the heir of Sparda.

"Unfortunately Son of Sparda, we cannot." The Archangel had an apologetic tone.

"Here is where we were summoned, this is where we will fight." The Knight stated. "And we both have our orders."

"Destroy all opposition with overwhelming force wherever it presents itself!" stated the Archangel.

With those words more portals opened in the air and dozens of Legionnaires, Hoplites, Lancers, Honours, Powers and Glories. Behind the knight appeared Blades, Assaults, Frosts, Hells, Scarecrows, Marionettes, Mephistoes, Death Scythes, Abysses, Fallen and Basilisks. As the two sides began their battle Dante groaned.

"There's no way we can stop this war."

"We have to do something Dante." Vergil stated.

Lucius came over. "If there are no more demons, then they will leave!" he said urgently.

"They wouldn't be here at all if you hadn't called them!" Vergil said in a voice that could have frozen liquid helium. Lucius shrank back at this.

Nero shrugged. "Well let's kill them all then." He said, punching his right hand into his left.

Vergil whirled Yamato in a lethal circle, carving several demons into pieces. He hit one of the flightless Hoplites in the process, but none of the other angels dared comment. Lancers and Basilisks went head to head in a lethal combat that was fast paced and dangerous. Nero picked up a Blade by the tail and smashed it around, using it as if it were a bat to kill his various assailants. With a sweep of the Bringer he snatched a Mephisto that had been weakened and smashed it until it was destroyed! Dante hurled himself into the fray with a reckless abandon that showed his mad battlelust! Whooping with laughter he tackled several Hells in a whirlwind of bullet and blade. None dared stand before the Dark Knight as he crushed enemies like they were dust beneath his feet. When Dante landed, he beckoned to a couple of Basilisks that were feasting on a down Lancer.

"Is that all you got?"

With a snarl the Basilisks charged him only to be hacked to bits by the Devil Hunter. "Yep nothing like a day's slaying to keep you in shape!" he commented airily as they fought.

Suddenly there were multiple flashes from above. Justin Astartes and his two brothers had just appeared on the top of the cranes. As all paused to look up at him, he took the time to draw his sword and test the edge.

"Showtime!"

He leaped! Landing in the same room as Dante he pointed his blade right at the half devils throat.

"Well you sure took your time getting here didn't you." Dante commented.

"You know yourself, I had to finish the hook point scarf I was knitting." Justin replied as he whirled to gut an Abyss. "What about yourself?"

"Just taking the air." Dante brought up Ebony to blast a Marionette. "I happened to take your advice by the way."

"Ah you talked to her then. Down!" Dante ducked as Justin skewered Hell Greed.

"We did have a discussion, yes." The two jumped to the next level as an Envy exploded.

"Well this is not the best place to have a conversation about this now." Ty and Ian flew towards each other, linked arms and used their momentum to swing in a circle, chopping demons left and right. Vergil teleported above a group of Frosts and slashed them up mid air. Nero was invisible for a moment until there was a roar, and the six demons on his blade had exploded as Red Queen revved.

"Perhaps you're right."

"Then I would suggest we meet elsewhere."

Both men took a moment to slaughter a couple of elites who had managed to get within the room. Justin favoured using movement like a madman to avoid his enemies and overwhelm them, whilst Dante just blasted through anything that was in his way. Abysses and Fallen fell before them as the two cut into them in a lethal storm of swords and ammo.

Over the noise Dante called, "Where would you suggest then?"

"Tartarus Castle!" came the response.

"Okay!" Dante was stabbed in the side by an Assault. The demon wailed as Dante just pointed Ivory in his face and blew it away. When he turned back Justin had moved onto another part of the fight.

The battle lasted another hour until all the demons had been killed. The Devil Knight had won the battle against the Archangel, but had had to retreat after he had been attacked by Vergil. More Devil Hunters had appeared and together they accounted for almost forty per cent of the kills. Some of them had been wounded however, and had to be taken to the various healers. Lucius was given a dressing down by a very angry Vergil. The angels had been forced to return to the Overworld after the battle. The Astartes boys had disappeared after the battle, but the Sparda's knew where they were going. It turned out later that the battle had involved some four hundred demons and two hundred angels. It was the first serious battle of the war.

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Reviewing is good my friends. Let me know what you think. I figured I needed to lighten it up a bit with the Dante Justin exchange


	17. Chapter 17

**I am seriously angry right now!** The spacing problem that was fixed has resurfaced. Damn the formating on this thing! Any way, glad you all enjoyed the Justin Dante banter, more is here to follow.

**A Fortuitous Meeting**

Dante and Trish headed out towards Tartarus Castle. Nero was the only Sparda who'd never seen it, and never been there. Trish had seen it, but didn't like it. Vergil and Lady had both been out there at different stages, but although Vergil liked it, he didn't want to stay there without attracting attention. The thing about Tartarus was its heritage. Tartarus, as Dante patiently explained to the younger brother, was the castle of Sparda. He had owned it years ago, before and after he had lived in Fortuna. Sparda's status as a powerful Knight had led to his being given a palatial Castle to live in. The grounds were extensive, more suited to a manor than a castle built for war. The entire thing was a fortress, easy to defend, hard to attack. With maybe a hundred men and women it could easily stand up to an assault, by any army. Tartarus was a worthy target of any foe. And it was here that Justin had called the meeting, if that's what it could be called. The long drive served to get both of their minds off the crazy situation. Dante had told Trish all that had happened in the building site, how the two of them had fought as a team, how it had worked like a charm, almost as well as him and Vergil. Nero was too much like Dante for a team up. Speaking of Nero, he had left, gone back to Fortuna after his attempts to get through to Kyrie had met with nothing but static. He was gone and what was going to happen to him there, no one knew.

* * *

Dante had his lips pursed when Trish asked him a question, and for a moment didn't realise he had been so far away. "I'm sorry?"

"I said, what are you thinking about?" she asked again patiently.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I was thinking about when I first came here."

Trish glanced over at him, noting how his eyes were faraway, the look he normally got when he was lost in thought. "What happened?"

"Nothing. I just remember Father carrying me on his shoulders, it was just me and him, he'd taken Vergil a day earlier. We walked up through all the gardens, and I got lost in the maze."

Trish laughed slightly at that. It was typical of him to get lost.

"So he had to come and find me. I was less than six I think. It wasn't really that hard of a maze, but I didn't think about it, I just went right ahead. Anyway, he found me and we found the right way out." His eyes, whilst still fixed on the road ahead were far away. "Father brought me up to the front door, I still remember it even now. It was a big iron and wood thing, black as pitch and decidedly ugly. But… it had a drawbridge too, now that I remember. Where was I? Yeah, it was really ugly. Inside the actual castle it was unlit, but there was enough light to see that it was well furnished, high ceilings, big tables, no electricity, big thick rugs on the floor, real old world style. Even had four poster beds."

"Sounds really romantic."

"Yeah, and scary for a six year old. I'll take you out here for a longer visit if you'd like at a later date. Anyway, we went up on the battlements and the towers, and he was telling me how old it was, when out of nowhere he just stops."

Trish glanced at him again and saw that he was staring straight ahead, they'd just stopped outside the gates to Xenophon Estate, the grounds, and they were simply waiting to go in.

But Dante wanted to finish his story first.

"He stood there and looked straight out and he said something to me that I never forgot."

"What did he say?"

"I never deserved any of this. You, Vergil, this castle, even your mother should never have met me."

Trish reached out and took his larger hand in her smaller one. For a moment Dante just looked at it. Then he finished. "I first thought it was because he'd put us in harms way, but now I realise what it really was. If it hadn't been for his becoming the Hand, he probably would never have been at that ball to meet my mother."

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The gardens ended a short way away from the drawbridge so Dante parked the car and the two of them got out. There was a space of almost fifty meters between the drawbridge and the edge of the gardens. There was the huge pair of gates, exactly the same as he remembered them, foreboding and impenetrable. As he walked into the castle he reached out and brushed his hand down the lintel of the doorway. It was still the same smooth, white stone that he remembered. The two of them went through the massive gates, through the gatehouse and into the entrance hall. The darkness in here was almost solid and Trish reached out for Dante's hand.

"You guys sure took your time." The voice echoed down from the ceiling. "Lights please!"

When the lights flared on, they revealed the huge, high, vaulted ceiling. However Justin was sitting on a buttress at the join of roof and wall. He was clad in his usual garb and carried his sword across his back.

"Glad you finally made it." He looked across the room to where a young woman was standing on thin air with her arms folded. "Talk to you later Aria."

She gave a quick nod and vanished. No flare of lights, just disappeared. Justin got up and began to walk down the wall to meet them.

"You know why I called you here?"

"It has to do with my father." Dante hazarded.

Justin gave him a nod. "Correct. I assume you know that this was your fathers home."

"He brought me here once before."

"It seems only fitting that I bring you here, now that you are his heir. Will we go into one of the other rooms?"

Dante glanced at Trish, who gave a quick nod.

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With windows that looked out over the gardens, this second storey room was perfect for them when they entered. As he walked into it Justin gestured at the fireplace and it ignited into a roaring blaze.

"I see you've made yourself at home, in what is now my castle." Dante commented pointedly

"Yes." Justin turned to Trish. "I'm sorry I don't quite believe we've met."

"We did," Trish replied demurely, "I was trying to kill you remember."

"Ah yes. I do indeed, never the best way to meet a woman, especially one as beautiful as yourself."

Dante walked over and pointedly put an arm around her shoulders as he said, "Yes she is, isn't she."

Justin laughed and walked over to a pre-stocked table. "Anyone want a drink?"

Dante was slightly amazed. "You weren't kidding when you said you'd made yourself at home."

"Oh don't talk like that Dante, Son of Sparda, I stay in my apartments in the towers." Justin turned to face them with a glass of wine in each hand. He gave one to Trish, the other to Dante. "Sparda gave me an open invitation to live here whenever I want. You honestly think he spent all those years before he met your mother alone? All of us practically colonized this place. It was even worse when he was still like you. There were balls and masquerades here all the time. He was a worse party animal than you are."

* * *

After some more questions regarding Sparda, Justin finally started to get to the point.

"What do you think of this place?"

"Not much. I prefer something a little smaller."

"You really are your fathers heir, you know, in more ways than one. You even fell in love with a woman who looks like your mother, indicating that you find similar features attractive. Let me get a better look at you Trish."

Justin walked over and took her face in his hands. After a few moments he stepped back and sat in an armchair.

"I knew your mother Dante I got to know her quite well. Sparda often told me to keep an eye on her when he was off trying to lay a false trail. Worked often too. She was very beautiful, but you have changed Trish. You no longer look exactly like her, you could be her twin, but the differences are there. Eva was a little shorter than you to begin with, her hair was a lighter shade and her eyes darker."

He turned his attention back to Dante. "You on the other hand, are the spitting image of a younger version of your father. You carry a lot of his traits, though not all. Your level of power has surpassed his, though you will never equal him when he was at his prime, in that one battle against Mundus." He held up his hand to halt Dante. "However, you will hold that power for much much longer than he did, especially considering how he started to behave in his last days."

* * *

The topic changed abruptly. "Does your older brother enjoy coming here?"

"To tell you the truth, Vergil doesn't want to draw attention to the fact that this place has a lord once more."

"That's your father again." Justin said with a booming laugh. "Sparda hated the thought of being the Lord of the Castle. He spent most of his time in the city. Even when he met your mother, he was already living there in an apartment." He was silent for a while. "It was at a ball I forced him to go to. He was beginning to dwell on the closeness of Mundus' return to much. But that's another story for another day." He waved a hand dismissively.

"Now I suppose you have many questions for me, now that we have the time and we're not fighting."

"How did…"

Justin jumped forward for a second. "Sorry to interrupt, but before I forget, did Nero get his train alright?"

Dante stared. "How'd you know? Nero only decided to go this morning."

"You know that girl who was here earlier?"

"Yeah?"

"Messenger General of the Gods. The Eyes and Ears information is passed through High Command, she comes and tells me. It's okay, I sent Ty and Ian along. I have a bad feeling about Fortuna though."

"Vergil and Lady went with him."

"And Lucia said she was going there too." Added Trish.

"Good. He'll have plenty of help then. Pray continue." Justin sat back again.

* * *

"How did my father end up becoming a Hand?"

"Now that is a story worth telling. Are you comfortable?"

Trish leaned up against Dante who had joined her on the sofa. "Yes."

Dante nodded.

"It all started two thousand years ago…"

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Next chapter will be entirely a flashback featuring Sparda. But feel free to give this one reviews.

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	18. Chapter 18

Thanks for all the reviews, I love getting them. They make my life more fun. Spacing problem fixed at last.

* * *

**A Story Never Told**

The Temen-ni-gru stood on the shore of the sea, the entire land all around it blackened by the passing tread of feet, and the water below it fouled by their effluence. This was the main entry to the Underworld, and from it marched an endless horde of demons. Atop the massive building stood a figure. Purplish, black armour covered it, and culminated in a helm like head with a face as pale as death itself and a pair of horns that snaked out and down beyond his shoulders. The only bit of colour was in his forehead, a single vertical jewel which shone. He stood proud and tall, a statue of dread against the sky, which was swirling with dark power and marked the Hellgate that was allowing the demon army into this realm. He stood so till his hooves seemed to be one with the roof itself. His armoured hands rested on the hilt of his long curved blade sword. His sword, the one he had named after himself. It had an almost organic look about it, and was almost as long as he was. Nevertheless he still managed to wield it with great skill and strength. For a few brief moments he stared out across the landscape before them all. Already the Seven Hells of the Demon Army had started to blanch the land a sickly brownish black colour. Then he turned to his two guests here on the roof of the huge tower.

--

"What do you think of our invasion my apprentices? Is it not glorious?"

"Yes it is Sir Sparda." Both of them intoned on cue. Sparda narrowed his eyes somewhat.

"You think our invasion is something wrong?"

"No we like it sir." The white one said quickly, looking at his twin. But the twin remained silent.

"Asmodeus?" Sparda asked in a quieter voice, a gentler tone.

The black skinned junior devil knight looked up at him. "They aren't exactly capable of fighting back Sir Sparda."

"There's no sport in it Master Sparda." Added his twin brother Baal.

Sparda sighed inwardly and knelt down in front of the two young knights. Barely seven decades old, the two had been his pupils for as long as they had been able to stand. He almost considered them his sons and had fought to protect them several times from the others who would have killed them as a method of keeping the fittest in charge. It was the Dark Emperors orders, he had kept telling himself. But that didn't change the fact that these two considered him their father, and it didn't help that he treated them as sons. More than once he had been told by the Dark Emperor that he shouldn't have grown so close to them. He knew that, but he couldn't change how it had happened. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to bully and destroy the way so many others in the hierarchy did, revelling in it as they did so. He had a weakness for the weak, something that was not encouraged in a society that sought power over all else! But they had answered like real knights. So he tried to ignore his internal misgivings as he reprimanded them gently.

--

"The human realm is full of potential. It is nowhere near as big, or as varied as the Underworld, but it has something that we need so much."

"What's that?"

"Slaves and land. We will be prosperous here. We will be able to eat better creatures, not the destroyed creatures in the Underworld, half of which are poisonous anyway. Here we will have slaves to till the land for us, pamper us, take up arms on our behalf, amuse us and treat us like gods." A foolish thought. Being treated as god was not the same as being one. Gods didn't need the devotion of millions, they simply were. "And we will never need anything ever again."

"But what will we get?" Baal asked him.

"What I just said." Sparda answered, wondering where this was going.

"What else though?" Asmodeus had a thoughtful look on his face, his long hair concealing one of his turquoise eyes.

--

"You will gain my favour boy!" called out a booming voice, a voice that could only belong to one person in the Underworld.

"Your Majesty!" the two boys said as one and knelt.

Sparda also bowed his head and knelt on one knee. "Emperor Mundus, how may I serve you?"

"You have done well Sparda, I am pleased with your progress."

If he'd had a tail he would have been wagging it. "Thank you your majesty. The war goes well, we have overcome all resistance on this coast and are pushing hard in land. The people here have no weapons that can withstand us sir. They try, but are slaughtered."

Mundus laughed a loud booming laugh. "Good work Sparda. And you two," he turned back to the two boys, "You are convinced of our purpose here, aren't you?"

"Yes eminence." The two of them were almost falling over each other trying to attract his attention.

"I have work to do. Keep up the good work Sparda. Come Nevan." He turned and left. The succubus, Nevan, who was next to him threw Sparda a seductive wink. Sparda's response was a blank stare. It was no secret that she was attracted to him, but she was nowhere near his age, or old enough to try seducing him. Others had tried and failed. He didn't want a mate, not yet, and certainly not someone like Nevan.

--

"You two go and practise your swordplay in the main chambers. Don't let Cerberus bite you. He has a vicious sense of humour that dog."

The two young ones vanished, whooping with delight about getting a little fun in at Cerberus, who was a bully. Sparda strode to the edge of the building and looked down. Why exactly was he doing this? All he stood to get out of it was a bit more of Mundus' favour. He was the one who stood to gain. Slaves? A joke, Mundus would own them the same way that he owned him. For a long time he had been harbouring these thoughts. Why did he serve Mundus so unquestioningly, with no hint of his own self control? When Mundus was in the room he did anything he said, and if he said kill, he killed. No hint of remorse, no hint of regret, not even a sense of there being no sport in it. He was an utter slave, bound to the will of the Devil Emperor. Never in his life would he be free of this. He stared out across the plain in front of him. His apprentices were right, this was not a war. A war meant fighting with your enemies, not slaughtering them whenever they tried to fight back. He looked out. When all of this was over, he would have nothing but further slavery awaiting him.

--

"Yes you are."

Sparda swung his sword with the speed of light. Only to find it caught between the fingers of the man who stood behind him. But no man was this tall, almost as tall as Sparda himself.

"You are a slave little knight, and you think you have your own mind? Every moment you spend in his presence bends you further to his will."

"Who are you?" Sparda demanded.

"I am who I am. You need not concern yourself with that at this moment in time."

"Are you a servant of Lord Mundus, or not?"

The stranger laughed fitfully. "I am not a servant young Knight, I never have been and I never will."  
Sparda narrowed his eyes. This stranger was beginning to bug him. "If you do not serve Lord Mundus, then I will slay you!"

--

Sparda swung his sword at the stranger, who moved aside with casual speed and grace, the huge blade effortlessly flying past his face. The stranger held out a hand and a sword built itself out of light in his hand. Sparda flew at him! With a lazy one handed grip the stranger blocked every strike that the dark knight threw at him. He held out a hand and a pulse of pure power tossed Sparda off the tower. As he fell he tried to get his wings out, but the being that pursued him simply lounged in the air, matching his speed as he fell.

"Ready to give up yet?"

"Never!"

Sparda flipped, twisted and managed to spread his wings. He glided down towards the ground and landed in the remains of a small village several miles from the tower. He spun, sword up in a block just in time to stop the being from bringing his light sword down on his back!

--

"You are strong, Sparda, but you're not strong enough to defeat him, not yet."

"You speak as if I were contemplating treason."

"But you are. You sit there and think that this war is not worth fighting. That alone is treason."

"Don't attempt to blind me with words human." He snarled in response.

"Human am I?" the stranger laughed. With a simple motion, the entire world dropped away, so did the galaxy, so did the universe until there was nothing left. The stranger stepped back and let his true form take hold. Any solid form that he had disappeared, instead he grew out, farther and farther, until there was nothing there but the presence. When he spoke, it was a voice overlaid with power and majesty.

"I AM A GOD!"

--

Service to Mundus was all well and good, but this was an all powerful. Sparda prostrated himself on his face. The God looked down upon him with pity in his eyes, such a powerful spirit, such honour in his mind, a righteous soul.

"Do you know why Mundus has stayed in power so long Sparda?"

"He has the powerful Devils on his side. Most of the Generals owe him allegiance, and the vast majority of the Knights are his slaves."

"Correct. Never would a Devil Emperor remain so long. Factions always build and try to take power for themselves. Knights support the Generals in their attempts and the others try to keep them down. Mundus has gained control via the creation of the Elite class and the fealty of the Seven Hells and their Vanguards."

--

There was a sound and a decrease of light that meant Sparda could raise his head. The form had reduced and was now a humanoid figure seated on a throne staring at him with eyes of flame. Every time he spoke a sword came out of his mouth and flickered.

"You have a righteous heart Sparda, it makes one think why you agreed to serve Mundus in the first place."

For a moment Sparda thought about lying. But then he cast it aside and told the truth. "I wanted power. I wanted attention, and I wanted to be looked up to."

The God nodded. "Good, you speak the truth. But what do you want now Sparda? You have long ago cast aside those thoughts of petty power and fame, what do you want now?"

"I… I want to be free."

Around him two more figures stepped into the plane of existence. "We are willing to give you your freedom, but it will come at a cost."  
Sparda smiled. "What's the catch?"

"You will become our Hand, fight for us in this war, rally the humans, lead them, fight with them, live with them. You will leave behind all your heritage as a Devil Knight and become like a mortal. You will incur the whole wrath of the Underworld who will see you as a traitor. You will be hunted like an animal, treated with fear by the humans, called upon to serve at any time in any capacity, never given a moments rest, never let go. Your past will always chase you, and it will eventually catch you."

Sparda smiled even wider. "Yeah, but where's the catch?"

--

"And so you will not have to do all this alone, we will give you a comrade for this battle ahead." The Gods moved their left hands and there were four human appearing beings in the centre with him.

"He will help you bear your burden, and will eventually succeed you. Train him well, and keep them close Sir Sparda, your battle begins now."

Sparda blinked and he was back in the ruined village. The boy walked up to him.

"Orders sir?"

Sparda looked around at a scream. There were several Hells dragging a human girl out of one of the buildings. Sparda raised his sword.

"We start now!" he said and charged!

* * *

Hope you liked that, please let me know.


	19. Chapter 19

My thanks to all who review, and equally my thanks to all readers. Review or not I am glad that this story is beign read. But a special thanks to those who review. In this chapter I'll be bringing across my Vergil/Lady pairing and the first fight with The Hellhound!

* * *

**A Train Ride through Hell**

"And the rest, is history."

Justin steepled his fingers and looked at the pair from over the tips. Dante was still sitting upright and keeping his focus intent on the Hands face. Trish was curled up and looked like she was getting somewhat tired. Dante, of course was the one who started asking question.

"So that was you I expect?"

"Correct."

"Funny, I would have thought that Pop would have mentioned you at some point."

"Sparda was content to let us take over the job, I think after he met your mother he was far happier to just give it all up. He'd been looking for some peace for a long time before that, in Eva he found it."

Trish sighed, the warmth and comfort starting to get to her.

"I suppose you'll want to know what I'm going to do in this situation?" Justin asked.

"It would be a help…"

"Justin!" The Messenger General appeared out of the air.

"What is it?" he asked as he noted the way she was almost out of breath.

"Confirmation. Mundus has sent someone after you!"

"Relax, it's not anything that I can't deal with." Justin put a placating hand on her shoulder.

"No, you don't get it. It's Sammael!" the voice she spoke in carried with it all the implications of dread.

"No worries," the Hand reassured her, "he can't get in here, we're too well protected. Nothing can spawn in here, that's part of the bind this place carries."

"But he can get out elsewhere."

"Oh hellfire!" Dante burst out.

"What?" Trish was awake in an instant.

"That train!"

--

Lady was not a happy traveller. Opposite her was Nero, who had a pair of headphones on and was staring out the window. The fact that his music had finished long ago didn't seem to attract his attention. Vergil had a book out in front of him and was busily reading through it with the studious attention of a serious reader, one who was not likely to take his attention of it any time soon. On the seats on the other side of them their two new travelling companions were playing a game of chess. Both of them were completely absorbed in the task at hand. They had played a two player strategy board game earlier as well and had been completely absorbed in that as well. Nero and Vergil had shown them absolutely no mind at all after they had sat down opposite them and started their game. Lady had thought of asking a couple of questions, but they had glanced at her with a look of distrust and she'd sat down again. Now she sat with her fingers drumming on the table as the train rushed past all and sundry scenery, all of it the same and nothing changing. She had tried to get her PJ playing, but she had, of course, forgotten spare batteries. The gun and ammo magazines she had, Lady had read them all before and after four hours that wasn't quite what she had in mind. Vergil had more books, but since they were all titled, "The Sword as a Work of Art" or suchlike, the thought of asking for one didn't appeal.

--

So she unconsciously checked her guns. Dante had been kind enough, okay that was a lie, Vergil had forced Dante to loan her his guitar case and Kalina Ann was snugly tucked away in there along with her sub machine gun and her other four pistols. A fifth was in her shoulder bag along with a pair of combat knives. Nero had his usual carry on with his clothes and the case with Red Queen in it and his hand was gloved again. Vergil had a small case, with the most pressed clothes she had ever seen, and a long cloth bag that unquestionably held Yamato. The two across from them had nothing visible and didn't seem to have any obvious bags. Not that that meant anything, they could have their weapons hidden, or carry them internally like Vergil and Nero did. She sighed and got up to speak to them.

"What's wrong?" it was Vergil who had spoken.

She turned to look at him, now taken out of his book and looking up at her. "I guess I'm just bored really."

"I could loan you a book if you'd like?"

She glanced at his shoulder bag again. "I don't think sword combat is my kind of thing."

He looked slightly offended. "I do have other interests you know."

"Like?"

"History, the concept of relative morality, the possibility of there being alternate worlds, how to access those planes, the knowledge of the Gods, how to defeat Mundus, the most economic way to kill a demon, that sort of thing." He said all that in one breath.

Lady just stared. "You don't have anything _I_ might be interested in?"

Vergil smiled, one of his rare smiles and dug out a book. "A Study of Anti Devil Firearms?" he asked.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Lady grabbed it out of his hand in a movement so fast he almost lost his fingers. "These are out of print for years, they're almost impossible to get!"

Vergil shrugged slightly. "I bought that before I went to Temen-ni-Gru, I found it in an old shop. You can keep it if you like."

"Really! Thanks Vergil." She turned slightly pink as she said this.

Vergil gave another small smile. "No thanks are necessary, I never learned to use firearms so it was of no benefit to me."

"Everyone thinks the "Modern Arms vs Devil Weapons" book is the definitive work, but this one takes so much more into account. I read an old copy in a library once, loved it, and I still think it's better than the new one!"

"I agree. The new one is prone to a certain amount of exaggeration, especially…"

--

He never got any farther, because the train lurched suddenly! They all swung around their heads. It even managed to get Nero's attention. Then the screaming started! The farthest end of the coaches and started to come up the train. The two Hands seated across the walkway looked up as two young women ran up to them and whispered something. Lady heard one of them curse under his breath. At that point the door of the carriage opened. A Scarecrow stood in the gap, blood still dripping off his bladed arm. In an instant he was blasted in the head by Lady who had quickly whipped out her pistol.

"Arm up you guys!"

They all heard it, the rhythmic thumping noise as something pounded its way along the roof, deep dents being punched into the metal of the train as they went along its length. Tentacles wrapped around the edges of the roof and ripped it off. As the roof of the carriage was thrown aside they saw a massive Devil General there. It had the body of a dog, except it was reptilian and a crocodiles head. But it had a lion's mane and the mane was made up of tentacles, all of them ending in a vicious grabber.

It spoke, "I am Sammael, the Hellhound!"

--

Nero punched! His arm burst out of its glove, glowing, and solidly connected with the devils head. The Hellhound was thrown back and landed with a crash on the following carriage.

"Right! Let's rock this chump!" Nero leaped up out of the carriage only to be caught mid air by a tentacle and slammed onto the roof! Then he was picked up again. Yamato flashed and the tentacle dropped to the ground. Vergil jumped up and out of sight. Nero reached over to where his case was and opened it. In a few short seconds Red Queen was in his hand. Meanwhile, as Lady was pulling open her case and arming herself, the two Hands were acting as quickly. Ty pulled his twin pistols out and turned to the shocked people who were occupying the rest of the carriage.

"If you would all like to do to the front of the train and take shelter there, we will be able to deal with the threat much quicker." He commented to them all.

"And keep your heads down!" Ian added as he gestured and his spear appeared in his hand. "We are professionals."

At that point a tentacle wrapped itself around him and hurled him up into the air! Ty rolled his eyes.

"Why does that always happen?" at that he up to leaped into the battle.

--

Vergil was being dragged all over the roof, but he still managed to summon several swords and hurl them into his enemy. With a roar he was dropped, and he saw one of the Hands, the green one Ian, being thrown up into the air. With a quick flip, Ian righted himself and slashed down! Sammael roared as the spear made contact with his arm. Vergil himself charged forward at him, but the arrival of three Hell Vanguards drew his attention away.

"Oh no, not these!"

The Black Hand shot up into the air and began to fire his twin pistols. At the same time Ian jumped away from the reach of the devil and hurled his spear. Nero snatched a Vanguard out of the air and, with a sickening crunch, slammed it face first into the ground beside the train. As the train was still moving, there was a keening wail as the Vanguards face started to dissolve. Vergil let his summoned swords start to rip into the nearest enemy.

--

Lady scrambled up the ladder on the far side of the carriage and whipped up Kalina Ann. Calculations ran through her head as she factored in wind, speed and movement, all in a second. Then she fired! The missile shot down the train and slammed right into the third Vanguard which was trying to sidesweep Nero. The blast seemed to weaken it, but the vile thing let out a cry of pure venom and dozens of Hells began to jump out of the air around her. With a spin, the heavy blade on the launcher sliced through three of them and she set it on her back. Quick movements allowed her to draw out her knives and she was able to duck inside a swing and put a blade in the creature's chest. She dived backwards onto the frames of the roof of the carriage. Jumping the Hells were able to land on the beams on every side of her. In moments her pistols were making short work of them as she targeted each one precisely and lethally!

--

Nero rammed Red Queen into the Vanguards chest and revved the blade, letting two pounds of ignited fuel pump into the demon. With a wail it dissolved just as a tentacle hit him. Flying down the train Nero skidded to a halt just as he almost fell off the carriage. That was not going to happen, not when Kyrie needed him right now! He let his anger take form and triggered. Roaring, he charged Sammael and leaped right at him. He smashed into the devils face and as he tried to recover he pounded his fist into the nose, then he smashed it between the eyes. Flipping off again, he got his anger under control and managed to stop his trigger. A huge paw swiped him off the carriage altogether and he only stayed in the fight after he snatched a tentacle and let himself be pulled in. Vergil leaped into view, high above. Sammael reared up and punched with his big fists. Sammael wasn't even that big, maybe nine feet long, no more, but the tentacles added to his reach. Vergil was pulled onto the fist and the wind knocked out of him. Before Sammael could bite however Lady entered this part of the fight. Having made it to this side of the wrecked carriage, she hurled herself forward, slid on her back under Sammael, fired into his face and out the other side. Ian managed to catch her before she went off the edge.

"Not a nice drop." He commented

"It worked didn't it!" she snapped back.

"Almost."

--

Sammael reeled back. At that point Ty attacked with his sword. The small shorter sword whirled in a complex movement that reminded all watching of Dante's swordmaster moves. Dozens of small cuts appeared all over the devil and he leaped out of reach to the other end. In a horrific moment the devil pulled a screaming passenger out of the carriage with his tentacle.

"Catch!" he growled and threw.

"Nero!" the blue clad swordsmaster called.

Nero responded, snatching the passenger out of the sky. He didn't even need to look to know that Sammael was charging, tentacles knocking the others out of his way, taking full advantage of the situation. So he jumped off, reached down with his right hand and caught the edge. His devilish fingers chewed through the metal and gripped. Swinging inside Nero dropped the man, noting the other survivors.

"Get out of here, up to the front, now!"

Another tentacle reached in, grabbed his face and ripped him out of the side of the carriage. Sammael whipped him up and prepared to throw him across the plain. A blue streak crossed his limb and it fell in two Nero swinging Red Queen as he came down. The blow landed square on Sammaels arm and caused him to roar as his arm spurted out greenish grey blood.

--

The hunters all jumped to the far end of the carriage.

"We can't beat him, Mundus has given him too much power." Ty muttered.

Vergil sneered at him. "I thought you Hands were more powerful than this."

Ian's blades were suddenly crossed at his throat. "Do you want every demon within forty miles coming our way? Do you?"

"It's not our time yet." Ty pushed his brother aside. "We cannot be revealed yet. But I do have a plan." And he looked straight down.

--

Nero ran straight at Sammael. This was a mad plan, he still believed that. Just as he got there Sammael smacked him in the chest with one of his tentacles sending him flying. Nero turned to meet Lady coming the other way. Just before he reached her, she fired! With one arm around her waist Nero landed used the momentum to kill their movement and drop. Vergil was there and he caught Lady as Nero landed on the roof, his heightened strength easily absorbing the shock. Her missile slammed into Sammaels face! As the explosion shook the entire train, Ty and Ian easily lifted the bolt connecting the two cars and with a sarcastic little wave sent Sammael drifting back down the tracks. Vergil, Lady still in his arms and Nero dropped down through the roof beside them.

"Will that stop him?" Nero asked.

"Is that a trick question?" Ty said in a monotone.

"He'll either keep coming, or he'll go after the others." Ian concluded grimly. "The Hell hound will never quit until we either kill him or we die."

"A comforting thought." said Lady dryly, "By the way Vergil, I have my own set of legs, thank you all the same."

Vergil set her down, a chagrined expression on his normally placid face.

"A very nice set of legs, if I may say so." Ty commented. The reply was a gunshot to the head with trepidation.

"Don't be surprised." Vergil said hastily, "Dante gets that done to him all the time."

"Ow, you, ow!" Ty rubbed at his forehead with increased speed, "You stupid little…"

he saw Vergil's eyes. "lady." he finished lamely.

"Let's remain on schedule people. I have a fiancée to get to. Let's move it." Nero was as adamant as ever. "Ian, could you tell the driver to speed up."

"Not too fast." Lady picked back up her book. "I have a start to make."

* * *

Did you like it? If so let me know. For informations sake, I have based Sammael the Hellhound on the depiction of the demon of the same name in the film Hellboy, which is a great film go and see it. I hope that doesn't cross the boundries, but anyway I don't own Hellboy and I didn't do the film. That was the great Guillermo del Toro, what a legend.


	20. Chapter 20

**A Fortress, O Fortuna**

Capulet city was cold and quiet. It was early morning, so early that the birds had only just started singing. In the streets nothing moved, save a small flutter of leaves and a small dog. The dog halted and sniffed the air. There was something moving in the shadows of an alleyway on the side of the road. Dogs being more clued into the world around them than humans, he fled. Out of the darkness on the side of the road came two tall figures. Both of them appeared human. But appearances are only skin deep. One of these men had a long brown ponytail, but one lank piece of hair fell over his face covering his eye. The other was a monocle. Massive, built like a tank and possessed of a strong desire to rip people apart and study their insides, Agnus was an alchemist, a scientist who dabbled in the dark arts. His powers came from his ability to warp demon energy and use it to summon weapons for himself. His companion was a similarly tall man, but he didn't have the same bulk about him that Agnus had. But that was not a reason to believe him less dangerous. Arkham was merely a human form he took. His other form was that of the Jester, a demonic clown that had the ability to summon other demons and use them to protect himself. But he had a third form, a rarity in the Underworld. That form was the Nightmare, a huge demonic tank that carried incredibly strong armour and weaponry. It was all but impervious to harm.

--

"We have reached our destination Agnus."

The monocle covered eye turned to look at him. The two had an odd friendship that was mainly brought around by their hatred of the Sparda boys. Arkham particularly hated Vergil; Dante was not as big a problem for him as he was with Agnus. It was Agnus who carried the loathing of Nero and Dante equally. These coalescing hatreds allowed them to work together more efficiently. Mundus was under no allusions as to their loyalty, but he knew that their hatred of the Spardas would drive them to accomplish these goals. To that end, he appealed to their feelings on the matter.

"I assume then, that we go to the tower and resurrect it. A simple procedure."

"Not so easy as you think." Arkham surveyed the city, where only ten years ago had he summoned the Temen ni Gru and almost obtained the power of Sparda. "We will need something of Sparda himself if we are to breach the seal. The necessary blood is not required, it was given years ago. Now all that is needed is blood and something powerful enough to breach the seal."

"The Sword of Sparda should be enough. We used that back in Fortuna. We also had Yamato, which was equally useful, but now the cursed eldest Son has it." Agnus growled out.

Arkham shook his head. "Dante has the Sword of Sparda now; he probably has it with him."

Agnus grinned evilly. "No he doesn't. He gave it to a female friend of his."

--

The ship that was crossing the short channel to the island of Fortuna was not going fast enough for Nero. He stood on the foredeck, gloved fingers tapping a tattoo into the wood of the rail. It simply wouldn't go any faster, no matter how much he wanted it. Rage and fear were eating at his heart right now, rage that he had stayed away this long, and fear that she was in trouble. It was a feeling he knew wasn't doing him any favours right now, but he kept it anyway.

"It's not going to help you."

Nero whirled, his eyes quickly identifying Ian out of the groups of frightened people who were huddled in little knots of conversation.

"What isn't?" he asked.

Ian allowed a small smile to cross his face before he moved up to join his at the railing, leaning against it on one elbow, his face to the crowds.

"Look at them," he continued, "all cowering on the deck because they fear that a devil is going to attack them. Or worse, a Seraph or Cherub. They all know that Fortuna is under the defence of an angel host." Nero's eyes shot around to look at his companion. "Don't look at me as if you thought I wouldn't know. By this stage all of our organization knows that Credo, former Captain of the Holy Knights, is in command of a host as an Angel Knight and is in command of Fortuna."

Nero didn't answer for a moment or two. "Then I guess you know why I'm coming home."

"It is only a guess, but I would say that you are heading back to Fortuna to try and get Kyrie out of there before this escalates into a real war, possibly separating you both for all eternity, leaving her without protection and you without her. Add to that the fact that Credo once tried to kill you, a fight he lost, and you believe that he is here to take revenge and to take his sister back. Am I hitting the mark with that?"

"How'd you work all that out?" Nero breathed. He'd figured not a soul could work out what his plan was.

Ian shrugged. "I am more perceptive than my twin, not really that difficult, and I've always been good at digging into situations and working out motives. Besides," he added with a chuckle, "I've had nineteen hundred years to work on it."

"So it is true about you guys being immortal then." Nero tried to change the subject.

"Not really. We do not age, save in mind, but we are vulnerable to wounds. Ty once nearly died after he took on six Knights and a pair General in hand to hand combat alone. That was when he decided to incorporate firearms into his tactics." Ian frowned. "We have in the last few decades decided to ask the Gods to allow us more humanity, in an attempt to understand what we protect." Now it was his turn to look out to sea.

"Are you born as old as you are now?"

Ian smiled at that. "Justin, Ty and I were." His smile abruptly faded. "Sparda was the one who said we should try to lose our superior attitude and learn to love, so we asked for another sibling." Ian seemed to have faded into his memory as he continued, "It was a sister we sought, a sister to be raised from infancy to a predetermined adulthood age. It was a gift to us, something that was to give us hope and strength in the future."

After a few moments Nero realised that the conversation was not going to go anywhere if he didn't push it. "And what happened. Why isn't she with you?"

Ian didn't answer and Nero went to leave, but a voice stopped him. "After fourteen hundred years with us, she left us. It was all over some trivial matter, but things were said that should not have been. Justin, in particular, was intractable. She left, became human and died." He fell silent for another moment. "It was in retrospect, the worst thing we ever did."

--

Vergil was standing on the upper deck, looking down at the two and listening. It was not his intent, he had originally been there to try and get some fresh air, having never been good with boats. But once the Hand had begun talking about his sister, Vergil had listened in. Now he felt a slight amount of pity for the boy, a similar story to his own, though it was his own fault. Vergil raised his eyes and saw Fortuna. It was a huge island, far out sizing his vague memory of Mallet. The Island itself was a remnant of a spur that had once jutted out from the mainland, but had since been eroded completely by the sea. Now it was connected by a ship lane, not far, but far enough from port to port, of which Fortuna's was now plainly visible. The docks were full of small fishing boats, which were unoccupied, and the larger ship docked at the medium sized building that served as a sort of ferry dock. The passengers swiftly disembarked, and Vergil was quick to notice that the humans in the building were still human, he took that as a good sign, but had a relaxed look on their faces that the new arrivals took solace in. Once outside they saw why. There was a set of booths through which the new arrivals had to pass. They were guarded by six Hoplites and several Legionnaires flashed overhead.

"Welcome to Fortuna, what is you purpose here?" Vergil was now close enough to hear the conversations that were happening all over the dock.

"Thank you and enjoy your stay."

--

Lady was the first in their group to pass through the toll.

"Good afternoon, what is the purpose of your visit here?"

"Visiting my friend's fiancée."

"Name please?"

"Lady."

"Lady what?"

"Just Lady."

The Hoplites turned their helmeted gaze towards her for a moment and the booth operator threw a glance at them. They nodded and she turned back. "Very well, pass through and enjoy your stay."

Lady shouldered the guitar case and cast a glance a glance over her shoulder at the rest of them. "These men are all in the same party." She said to try and speed their movement, but it was ignored.

"Next please."

Ty was in next. "Good afternoon gorgeous, how may I help you?"

The booth operator might have been only eighteen, but she wasn't stupid. "Flattery will get you nowhere sir, name and business?"

"Ty Astartes. Here on vacation with friends and to see what the angels have done to this place. I hope they've been treating you well?"

"Far better then you could sir." She answered demurely and glanced at the Hoplites. The angels just stared at him for a minute or two until their officer nodded slowly.

"You'll have to forgive my brother, he's a little bit of an idiot." Ian said apologetically.

This earned him a smile. "Oh it's nothing, I'm used to dealing with his type all the time."

"Thank you, Ian Astartes, here to help a friend out and to take stock of how things are, here in Fortuna." This helpful attitude and the warm smile he gave her earned a blush. As she dropped her eyes to study his ID Ian threw his brother a smirk. Ty scowled at him.

--

"Name?"

Icy blue eyes stared her down. "Vergil Sparda."

"Purpose?"

"Visiting with my brother."

Nods from the Hoplites. "Pass."

"Name?"

"Nero Sparda."

Silence. All work stopped right then and there.

"Hello Nero."

Nero turned very slowly. Standing behind him, arms crossed and sword by his side, was Credo Aegis, former Captain of the Holy Knights, and Captain of the 1st Angelic Host!


	21. Chapter 21

Finally got around to uploading. Lots happening at the moment so I'm a bit busy. Anyway, thanks for all reviews and for all readings. SPoM, just a little clear up, the Sparda Sword is in Trish's possesion, not Lady's. That's what Arkham and Agnus are looking for.

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**A Life Reborn**

Nero stood stock still, not daring to take his eyes of the man in front of him. This tall man with the dark brown hair that was swept back into his familiar style, the stance, arms folded and shoulders squared, the eyes narrowed so that their brown iris' could barely be seen. It was definitely Credo. The man whose sister he was engaged to, the man he had fought and beaten in battle which Kyrie had seen the end of, the man who had died trying to save him. The man who had been his mentor, older brother and friend. Where they stood now, Nero wasn't sure. Credo began to walk in a circle, his eyes fixed on Nero.

"I hear you have taken a new name Nero."

Nero had known that would be the beginning of it. "Yeah, I had a test done on my blood, proved to be similar to that of Dante. Which makes me a son of Sparda."

Credo gave a hrumph of agreement. "I had guessed as much when I saw that you resonated with Yamato."

"That was thanks to Vergil, my benefactor and donator of the blood. Made me their half brother, and he's the oldest."

Credo stopped in front of Vergil. Without even looking at him he said, "This is him?"

Nero nodded. Credo never asked a question he didn't know the answer to.

Now Credo turned his gaze on Vergil and looked him in the eye. "You have great darkness about you."

Immediately Hoplites closed in on him and Legionnaires dropped to the ground. Vergil put his hand on Yamato. "Don't."

Credo raised one gloved hand and the angels returned to their posts. Without a sound Credo turned to Nero and drew his sword.

"Kyrie tells me you and she are engaged, and that you have taken over the role of Captain here. I'm not sure if I can allow that."

Vergil and Lady went to move, but Nero gestured for them to stay put.

--

Credo threw his arms out. White light began to roll off him and in a flash he had transformed into his true form, a one winged Angelic Knight, his other wing a shield, all but unbreakable. Nero had no such response. His only movement was to take off his glove and roll up his sleeve, revealing his devil arm. In a moment all the people there had backed off to give them some space. Credo charged! Sword clashed on sword as Nero drew Red Queen to counter it. Quick strikes echoed off one another as the Angel began to force his way across the square.

"Is this all you can do Nero?" he taunted in his metallic undertone.

Nero smiled as his eyes glowed red. "No!"

With a surge of blue power Nero sent Credo flying. Now surrounded by his spectre Nero charged forward. Before Credo could recover a step Nero had seized him by the scruff of the neck and punched him! Credo sailed across the pier and hit the wall with a crash. His power exhausted Nero let it go, rather than give too much of himself to it. Dante had once done that and it was not a good thing. As Credo leapt to his feet Blue Rose began to sing. Angelo Credo blocked with his shield, but the defensive move blocked any offensive move he might have made. With a battle cry Credo leaped into the air and soared up. Nero smiled, and snatched a nearby roof. In an instant he was chasing Credo up. In a second Nero had locked onto the shield and was flying through the air. At least he was until Angelo Credo spun and slashed across him. With a grunt of pain Nero fell. There was a crash as he hit the pier and rolled to the edge. Angelo Credo came down with one of his javelins. Nero sighed.

"Is that all you got?" he asked mockingly. With a lethal aim, Credo threw the javelin.

Nero rolled backwards and fell off the pier. With a splash he sank like a stone.

Angelo Credo landed with an easy stride and grasped his javelin, which morphed back into the sword.

"If this is how pathetic you are, I may have to take Kyrie away from you." He replied.

The entire pier fell silent at that. Vergil and Lady both winced. Ty smirked. "That was not a wise thing to say fancy coats."

It started small, but then began to grow. The entire pier began to shake and all the human spectators fell to their knees as the Hoplites braced themselves using their staffs. Only the Devil Hunters stood still, and the Angel Knight. Out of the water burst the form of Nero! His glowing spectre was black and had the form of Vergil's Modus trigger would look if Vergil used Modus. In his left hand Red Queen, in his right, Modus. And he started to whale into Credo! Red fire sparked as the two duelled and within no time at all Nero had knocked Credo's sword down with Red Queen before smashing it up out of his hand with Modus. Throwing both swords aside he charged forward and careened into Credo carrying him across the pier. Nero swung back his Bringer. Credo threw up his shield to block. Nero batted it aside and punched with his left hand. Credo, off balance, felt the next blow as the pier beneath his head shattered!

--

"Enough, I yield."

Nero stood and let the glow fade and the crimson disappear from his eyes.

"Very well. Thank you Credo."

Now back in his human form Credo stood, rubbing the back of his head gingerly. "How did you know it was a test?"

"You never shot me the look you give your enemy."

"Point." Credo looked around at the assembled group and spoke loud enough to be heard. "I am more than happy to have you for a brother in law Nero, you have proved yourself more than capable of defending both Kyrie and Fortuna. Give me Red Queen and kneel."

Now with Modus safely reabsorbed and Red Queen in Credo's hands, Nero knelt.

"Rise Nero Sparda, son of the Legendary Dark Knight and the Captain of Fortuna's defenders. Into your care I place this city and all its inhabitants. Particularly one."

As Credo handed Nero back his sword he whispered in his ear. "Can I be best man?"

Nero replied still in a low voice. "Who will give away the bride then?"

--

Kyrie stood in front of the Cathedral and watched as the birds flew silently across the sky above her. Even the birds knew that they were a bastion under siege. Everyone knew it, you could see the demons on the shore from the mountains. Credo was only back before he was being sent to hunt down demons who were trying to get into Fortuna, or worse humans who had sided with the demons. Even now, after all that had happened, she still didn't want to believe that humans were capable of siding with those creatures, no matter what Credo told her. Angelo Credo, the great Knight and captain of the Host. That's what he was now, mother would have been proud, father less so, she thought. She wished Nero were still here, he always knew what to do in the circumstances.

"You shouldn't brood." An accented voice cut through the air behind her.

Kyrie turned to see a young bronzed woman with vivid red hair and green eyes watching her. She was dressed in a pair of combat trousers and wore a white top and combat harness. Slung across her back were a pair of cutlaseer swords.

"What do you mean?" Kyrie asked in an innocent voice.

"You are brooding over when your knight in shining armour will return, and if your brother will come back safely." Lucia walked across the square and joined her looking up at the large building. It had been somewhat repaired after the devastation of the Giga's incident, but it would never return to its former glory, merely a shell left for all to see and remember.

"The angelic host will abandon this post and take up their defensive positions in the castle if it is needed. You needn't worry about your brother, I doubt he'll be injured, not with a full host around him."

Kyrie smiled at the other young woman's statement. "I get the feeling he doesn't trust you very much."

Lucia shrugged to herself. "I don't blame him, I wouldn't trust me either. Only a year or two ago I learned that I was a Devil Clone and that there was an army being cloned from me. I've worked hard to keep my bloodthirsty nature suppressed, but it's a struggle."

--

Kyrie nodded and heard a familiar voice. "I wonder if you could tell me if this is where the beautiful Kyrie told the dashing Nero she'd marry him?"

"Nero!" Kyrie threw herself into his arms and kissed him like he'd been gone for all her life.

As the young couple just held each other close the other members of the group looked around, clearly somewhat embarrassed by the display of affection, all except Lady and Lucia who, as women, were permitted to watch, albeit briefly.

Nero finally let her breath for a moment. "Kyrie, we have relatives watching."

"Surely they have other business for the moment." Kyrie whispered in his ear, her breath moving tantalizing across his skin.

"I don't think so. I have to get you out of danger." Nero looked at her, slightly surprised by her attitude. "You're spending too much time with Lady and Trish as well."

"You love it though."

Nero sighed. "Yeah I do."

He turned to the others. "Right. We have things to do."

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Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think. Reviews are good.


	22. Chapter 22

Thanks for the reviews. The war is coming. It will be here in the next two chapters, I have a few loose ends left. Anyway, more Dante/Trish here, a bit lighthearted to make up for all the heavy stuff coming. Enjoy.

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**A Calm before a Plunge**

Dante woke. The first thing he noticed was that he was not at home. He was lying in a huge four poster bed, in a massive bedchamber. It was large, ornate and was obviously the sleeping chambers of someone very rich, and equally willing to spend money. The second thing he noticed was that it was quiet, much quieter than when he was at home. No longer was the noise of the ever present traffic pervading his place of rest. Everything was so quiet he could hear birdsong. The third thing he noticed was that he was alone. This was the fact that surprised him the most, he was sleeping naked and alone. Normally he slept in at least a pair of boxers, at most he never undressed, and he always did after he had been attacked at home by a group of demons foolish enough to try it.

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Dante pushed himself up on his elbows and looked around the room. It was light enough for him to see that it was a grand chamber, large spacious and extremely well furnished. It had two separate bathrooms and three walk in wardrobes, full of old clothes. Ironically enough, they had never worn away, which was made more amazing by the fact that they hadn't been used for almost thirty years. Light streamed into the room, not from the candles, but from the open window. In the shape of the archway, that led to the balcony, stood a shape. Dante to up, sliding himself out from under the sheets and walked over. Coming up behind Trish he put his arms around her waist and kissed her as she twisted her face to him. Then she laid her head back into his chest with a contented sigh.

"What's up?" Dante whispered into her ear.

"I don't know. I feel, tensed, as if I were waiting for something to happen."

"Well if you want, I could arrange for "something" to happen right now."

Her response was a gentle elbow in the stomach, "I haven't the strength to go any more than four rounds with you at any one time. Besides, it's not that kind of restlessness."

Dante was silent for a moment. "Do you trust him?" he finally asked.

"I trusted you, didn't I. And I was trying to kill you when I first met you. Now look at me."

"I have been, all night. On the other hand," he said, to stifle a rebuke, "You are sleeping with me now, and I'm not sure I want that to happen with him."

"No fear. I think he's becoming a little too human in that regard. You've seen the way he looks at that brown eyed girl of his, he may be getting in just a little too deep there."

"I doubt it. Anyway back to my question. Do you trust him?"

"I'm not sure. For the moment I do. If this does go all the way, to the end of times, when will he stop being our ally and turn into the weapon that he is?"

"Agreed. I'm not sure exactly how much I can trust him, but as long as he is on our side then I will take all the help I can get."

"Our side?" Trish twisted her face to look up at him.

"I don't intend to take a side in this war. If I can get a number of others to side with me, then this will not become a battle of good and evil. It will become a battle of angels, demons and humans. That may be the thing that saves us all."

Trish pulled his face down and kissed him again. "I'm officially impressed Dante, I never thought you one for tactics."

Dante paused long enough to brush a strand of hair out of her face. "I have plenty of hidden depths babe, just got to look long enough for them."

Trish smiled. "Dante, it's ten in the morning. I could really use some coffee."

"Then fear not!" Dante cried in a playful tone of mock solemnity, "For I am here, to retrieve the coffee you so earnestly desire!"

He dodged out of the room, just as a cushion hit the door. Four seconds later he stuck his head back in.

"I'm not sure how I should phrase this," he began, "but could I have a robe please?"

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Dante went right down to the kitchen. First he had to find himself the actual coffee machine in the midst of this huge cavern made of pots and pans. Eventually he managed to come across the one patch where the day to day stuff for a skeleton household was. There he quickly managed to find the machine and activated it, running the grinder and producing a fine kettle of black coffee. He put it into a cup and poured a measure of coffee into a small jug. It was one of the things that unnerved him about the place, everything stayed fresh, no matter how long it was left. All the cupboards stayed full, how he wasn't sure. He guessed Justin must have done something to it. It certainly wasn't natural anyway, whatever it was though, it was effective. He turned, carrying the coffee in one hand, the jug in the other. As he strode confidently along, he stopped by the living room and looked in. There was nothing inside that suggested that Justin was home and for a moment Dante wondered where he was. Then there was a flutter from somewhere behind him.

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Turning Dante saw Justin standing on the window ledge.

"It's been a quiet night." He said dropping down.

Dante grinned. "Not for me it hasn't."

Justin returned a smirk of his own. "I did think it best to give you two some privacy. I went out on patrol. The number of demons in the city is dropping. No more than forty five at the most, and their all lowlifes even the Hells won't associate with. They really present no problem. If we wanted we could walk from here to the Temen ni Gru and nothing would happen."

"That quiet huh?"

"Yeah. It worries me though. I can feel a sort of tensing in the air, like some great force is building up."

"You're the second one to tell me that. Trish told me something similar, but I can't feel anything."

Justin grunted, grabbed Dante by the scruff of the neck and put a punch into him that sent all the wind out of him.

"Now do you sense anything?" he asked.

Dante's anger was roused and as he prepared to retaliate, he felt it. A kind of throbbing in the air, a beat, a pulse.

"Something is happening alright, I can sense it now."

Justin turned and stared out of the window. Dante looked down at the coffee that was all over the floor. "Trish is going to kill me."

At that Justin turned and looked down. "Oh Hellfire!"

As the pair tried in vain to mop up the spilled coffee, they heard the sound of footsteps coming towards them. In a second both men were standing in the way of the spilled coffee with hastily plastered smiles on their faces. Trish, now dressed, saw the pair of them and was instantly suspicious.

"What's going on?" she queried.

"Nothing, nothing at all. Justin just, ahh, dropped a contact." Dante managed to get out. Beside him Justin shot him a sideways glance at that.

"Is that true Justin?" Trish was in full maternal mode, her arms crossed, one foot tapping the gound.

"Er, yeah. Lost a contact. Right, terrible to have to replace them, expense and all that."

"There's coffee around your feet."

"Is that so?" Both of them looked down.

A brown liquid was slowly edging past the screen their tails made. Both men had guilty expressions on their faces. With a frown Trish started to charge up a fistful of electricity.

"It was his fault!" Dante pointed at Justin who threw him a shocked glare. "He punched me!"

Justin backed away from a now enraged Trish, both hands held up in a placating gesture. "Now Trish, I needed to get his devil blood up so he could note the sense in the air. It was your intoxicating presence that was keeping him from noting it and it was a desperate gesture, only intended to help. I did not expect you to, Trish… Trish don't hit me."

In response Trish growled and swung around, hitting an unsuspecting Dante an electric slap. As Justin dropped his guard she hit him.

"You idiots!" she roared, "I missed my coffee so that you two could argue it out over a point." But she wasn't really angry. In fact she was laughing as the two of them tried to beat out the sparks that danced in their clothes and hair. The two stood up, hair on end as sparks danced off it an earthed themselves.

"Really woman, did you have to ruin my hair!" the Hand was desperately smoothing it down.

"Yeah Trish, after all we've been through you had to…" his eyes opened in shock.

"Dante?" Justin waved a hand in front of his face. "Buddy?"

At that point Trish screamed. "The Sparda Sword! They've got it!"

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To satisfy reader curiosity, both Dante and Trish have a connection to the Sparda. 1 Dante unleashed the weapon so it is obviously part of him. 2 Trish carries it, the longer a Devil Arm stays in a Devils presence, the more linked they become. That's why Dante is so good with Rebellion and Vergil with Yamato. Anyway, toodly pip. I'm doing a show next week, along with college, so expect a slow down.


	23. Chapter 23

**I'M BACK!!** man i hate having to do assignments. Yep thats what was keeping me that and em, KOTOR, but it's all done now. Second half of the calm leading to the breaking of the storm.

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**A Calm Before a Plunge II**

Marlee was six. She and her twin younger brothers lived in the orphanage here in Capulet. It was quiet and small, but there were plenty of orphans living in it. Despite her age she was a tough and capable little youngster, always standing up for herself and her younger siblings with a ferocity that reminded most of a mother choc hen that had a nest in the vicinity. Smart and quick witted, even at this precocious age, she had a mind that all that saw her said would go far. It seemed a pity to the administrators that her parents had been murdered by demons, a relative taking care of the three children for the night at the time. Circumstances surrounding the deaths were somewhat odd, but the relatives had decided after that that the children were not safe with them and had left them to the orphanage. None of them had ever been heard from again. Now the black haired youngster would climb scramble all over the building looking down at the world below, grey eyes sparkling with everything she saw. People she grew to almost know while she looked at them. Several stood out in her eyes. The old man who bought his groceries in the little shop three doors down from them, whistling as he went under the window. Quite often Marlee dreamed he was her grandfather, keeping watch over her, like the nurse had told her. Another favourite was the blond cop who picked up his morning and afternoon coffee in the café to the left of the hairdressers across the street. She sometimes had her hair cut there. He could have possibly been her uncle. The tall Sabline man who waved whenever he saw her and played exotic music of his homeland on his little radio outside. But her favourite was the woman she saw who lived in the apartment directly opposite the window. Marlee wondered if this was in fact her mother, still alive but unable to pick her up. She lived all alone and didn't seem to have a boyfriend. Sometimes she went on long trips and Marlee didn't see her. Once, when Marlee had gone to get a drink of water late one night she had seen the light on across the road and had stolen a quick look. The woman had been crying softly, sadly, and Marlee had noticed a huge sword hanging on the wall. Maybe the woman was a hero, grieving for a lost friend. Today, she had seen some strange things.

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Justin opened the gates and the three of them ran out towards the car.

"I'll drive!" Dante roared as he threw himself into the driver street. Trish jumped into the passenger seat and Justin unceremoniously leaped into the back. With a roar of an engine the car raced down the road towards the main estate gates. Once out onto the main roads Dante pushed the car for all it was worth as soon as he hit the freeway and raced towards the city at full pelt.

"And you said this car was a heap of junk!" Dante threw a smirk at Trish.

Trish just glowered at him. He still had time for joking even now in the midst of this crisis. "It's a fast heap of junk, does that suit you."

With a smile on his lips he turned his attention back to the road. "That suits me dandy babe."

Justin had a bemused look on his face that everyone did before they knew Dante. It was the way he acted that made it so much fun. He did all this to keep the mood light for everyone, he himself was just glad to be back in the action.

"You might want to step on it." Justin said over the seat and the screaming wind. "Let me see what this baby can do!"

Dante obliged and the car leaped forward, the modifications he'd put in place making the engine sing.

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Trish just put her arms around her middle and held tight. Dante's driving was terrible.

Vergil and Dante both drove like mad men. But they had their differences. Vergil was all precision, like he was in most things, but Dante was all style. Vergil cut round corners like a razor, whereas Dante would fishtail, just for the pure fun of it. If the car could screech around the place like in cop shows, then that's what happened. Never say Dante wasn't careful though, he was just reckless in a car that carried him and two other stronger than average people. Justin by the way was an avid student of speed, but for him flight was the final frontier, not cars. Nothing quite beat freefalling six thousand feet before you stopped, now that was fun. Having said all that, there was merit in going around a corner this size at one hundred and seventy kilometres an hour. With a whoop Dante encountered his favourite thing, traffic. This meant dodging them and Trish moaned to herself when she saw his face light up. She knew what was coming next.

As they swerved like crazy in and out of traffic, going through tunnels and out the other side Trish felt a finger tap her shoulder.

"This is where I get off." Justin stood, despite the crazy weaving of the car and its driver. "You needn't stop."

With that he jumped, up and out of the car and right onto a roof where he disappeared.

"What was that all about?" Dante roared over the noise of the car as it swerved in and out of traffic.

"He's gone to scout ahead." Was the reply Trish gave.

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With a screech of tyres and the smell of burning rubber the car stopped outside a tall building across the street from an orphanage.

"This is your safehouse?" Dante was incredulous as he looked up at the building. It was tall and quiet, nothing that you'd expect to withstand a demon attack.

Trish threw a scornful glance at him, "More like this is where I live when I need some peace and quiet."

"C'mon babe, I'm not that bad!"

"You're not usually aware of how bad you are. As far as I can recall, you're the one with pizza boxes everywhere."

"Ouch!" Dante had to give her that one.

The apartment once opened was neat and clean and tidy, the polar opposite of Dante's office. The walls had tasteful wallpaper on them and the floor was swept clean with a couple of rugs down. There were two rooms with a kitchenette in the main room. However, in direct opposition to Dante's office, this apartment had a distinctive appearance of not being lived in.

Trish went directly to a bare patch of wall.

"No!" she murmured to herself under her breath.

"What is it?"

"There's a lingering presence here, one I have felt before, but I can't place it."

Dante stared out of the window. Trish looked at him for a moment with a look of exasperation on her face.

"Hello? Planetside to Dante?" When he turned to face her she continued, "All Hell is about to be let loose in case you haven't noticed. Can you quit bird-watching for a couple of minutes?"

Dante smirked. "Sorry, you know how I am."

Trish shook her head furiously and started to walk around the apartment trying to pick up the senses left behind by the intruders.

"However, I think this particular bird is not anywhere near old enough."

There was an almost audible snap reaction from the blond Devil Huntress as she swung to look at him.

Dante looked back at her and smirked that same small smile. "You do know there is a kid across the street looking right into your apartment?"

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Marlee saw the two people rush out of the building and run across the street. Immediately she jumped back from the window and hurried upstairs to room. Surely she wouldn't be in trouble for such a small thing. After all, who could blame an orphan for having her dreams. She hoped fervently that she hadn't been doing something wrong, maybe the blond woman was angry with her. Please no, and she had seemed such a nice person. Before she got to her room, Marlee stopped. She could hear the bell on the front desk ringing like mad as someone, probably the white haired man, beat on it with an urgency. Curiosity overcame her fears and she crept down the stairs to where she could see the desk. The administrator came out and she could see the blond woman asking hurried questions. Most were too low for her to make out, but others were louder and easier to hear.

"…little girl who looks out the second storey window?"

"Is there a problem? I hope she hasn't been spying?"

"…very important…where is she?"

"Marlee is upstairs, I'll get her now."

She had heard enough and she turned and ran.

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The orphanage administrator came back down the stairs. "I'm sorry," she started, "Marlee has locked herself in her room and is complaining of being ill."

Dante snorted softly. "Hardly," he said, "She was looking out of the window only five minutes ago."

"Are you sure it was her?"

"Black hair, grey eyes like saucers, sitting with her head in her hands looking down with a sort of dreamy expression, yeah the description matches what you told us."

The administrator hesitated for a moment. "She isn't in any trouble is she?"

Trish shook her head. "Nothing of the kind, she may have witnessed a robbery."

"Oh? Are you two police?"

Dante laughed. "No. We are private investigators. Much more efficient than the regular police. However," here he turned on the charm, "it is of vital importance that we speak to Marlee, she could be a hugely deciding factor in this investigation."

The administrator simpered and replied, "I'll go get her, if you'd like to wait in the interview room."

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Marlee came down the stairs a little apprehensively. Despite being told that these people were like the police, she couldn't shake a feeling of dread at the thought of meeting them. Her fantasies of them being relatives were still fresh in her mind and for a moment her frightened mind threw up the possibilities of that actually being true. As she neared the door she could hear their voices from beyond it.

"…always do that don't you."

"It worked didn't it."

"But it makes you seem like such a heel."

"A man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do!"

"It's no excuse."

"Okay then, I get to say something similar when you have to flirt to get into a cult of mad Sparda worshippers."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

Marlee pushed the door open, walked in quietly and sat down. For a moment there was silence as the two people looked at her. The woman was almost more beautiful up close although she was a little less mysterious. The man was a young man, with silver hair. No one had ever seen someone like that before, not here at this orphanage. He was dressed in a red coat and a red shirt with black bands running across it.

"Marlee, isn't it?" he said.

She nodded, not wanting to speak.

"I'm Trish and this is Dante," began the blond woman, "We hear that you like to watch the street from the window."

"I didn't do anything!" Marlee shrieked in a panic.

"Hey, that's not what we're here for." The man, Dante, held up both hands in a calming position.

Marlee knew then that she had done something wrong. "No, I didn't do anything!" she said firmly as her eyes started to burn. She was not going to give them any reason to take her away from her brothers, or her friends, not like this, not for doing something wrong.

"Woah, we're not accusing you of anything, we just want to ask you some questions." Again this was Dante gesturing across the table with his right hand. It was not, perhaps, the wisest move. Marlee could feel the tears as they started to run down her cheeks. They were going to take her away from her brothers.

---------------------------------------------

Trish got up and walked around the table to put her arms around the crying girl. "Shhh. You have us all wrong Marlee, it's not like that at all."

"But I didn't do anything wrong!" Marlee sobbed into the offered shoulder.

Maternal mode kicked in again. "That's the thing, you didn't do anything wrong Marlee, you did something right."

A tear streaked face was raised to look at her. "I did?"

Trish pulled out a tissue and wiped away some of the salty water from her cheeks. "I live across the street from your window, don't I."

The response was a nod.

"I've seen you before, always looking own from your window at the people going by. Did you see anyone strange today?"

Another nod.

"What did they look like?"

There was a pause and for a moment Trish wondered if she was going to answer, though the tears had stopped by now. Then she spoke.

"There were two men, both of them were very tall, almost bigger than him," she gestured at Dante, "and one of them was bald. The other one was very big, like a balloon, and he had a tail."

Dante stopped thinking and looked up. "A tail?" he said in a surprised voice.

"A ponytail," Trish passed on.

"They walked into that building over there, the one with your apartment. They were in your apartment as well."

"Did they take anything?" Trish asked softly.

That got a vigorous nod. "They took your sword." Marlee was silent for a moment. "Did they do something bad?"

At that point the administrator stuck her head in. "I heard tears, is everything alright?"

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As Trish got up and went to speak with her outside Marlee's curiosity again got the better of her and she looked at the writing pad that Dante had. "Whatcha writing?"

"Just a couple of names."

"Who are they?"

"The men you saw."

"Oh." There was silence as outside the talking continued.

"Do you have any brothers?"

"One and a half?"

Marlee was puzzled by that. "How can you have one and a half brothers. I got two."

Dante chuckled. "One is my twin and the other is adopted."

"Oh." She was silent again. Then spoke once more. "Was he an orphan?"

Dante looked up at her and she saw a sadness in his eyes. "We are all orphans. My father disappeared and my mother was killed when I was eight. Now my twin and Nero are all that I have."

"My parents are dead too."

"I'm sorry."

Marlee wrinkled her nose. "Why? It wasn't your fault."

Dante smiled a sad smile. "I say I'm sorry, because I know what it's like not to have parents. You must be very happy to have your brothers with you."

"We get along. I look after them. Were your brothers with you when your parents died?"

Dante's smile faded. "No. Vergil didn't come back for ten years, then he was gone again for eight." Dante's eyes refocused and he looked down at her. "But he's back now for good."

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When the two of them left Marlee ran back up to her window and looked down carefully. Dante and Trish ran across the road and jumped into their car. Dante said something to Trish and she replied. Then Marlee saw her hug him before the car started and drove off. She sat there for a while thinking about them. They had been nice people, perhaps they had known her parents. Odd that Dante was an orphan also. An hour later she felt and heard the rumble and the earth shake as the Tower came back!

Let me know what you think. especially now that this has been made so much more interactive (that sounds like a cheap disney sequel dvd ad). Anyway, read and review.


	24. Chapter 24

And now battle commences. The Temen ni Gru is revived and the war begins. Only Dante Trish and Justin are within fighting reach at the moment so read and review. Thanks to all who did so for the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one too.

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**A War Unleashed**

The car was halfway to its destination before the occupants felt the ground start to shake. Dante took his eyes off the road long enough for him to see, in the distance, buildings starting to tremble and others to collapse.

"No, not again!" he managed to whisper under his breath.

Out of the ground under several streets came the huge tall shape. After Vergil had fallen into the Underworld and the amulets had been removed the tower had sunk back into the ground, going dormant once more. Now the Temen ni Gru had returned and once more the gates of the Hells were open. Now Dante cursed the stupidity of his actions there when he had not made sure the tower could return. It was back and already the advance groups of Hells were on the move, he could see them spreading out through the streets and moving towards the buildings, already set in a frenzy of mayhem and murder. Time for him to act. Was he or was he not the heroic Dark Knight? Course he was, time to live up to the name. He accelerated at the nearest group. On the left hand side of the road was a stack of barrels with a rolling plane for lifting them and that's exactly where he was headed. With a roar the car sent two wheels up the ramp and leaped into the air. They passed right over the nearest Pride groups heads and both Trish and Dante let off a stream of bullets that sliced and diced the whole lot of them into pieces. Trish added a little burst of lightning just to finish them off in style.

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"Trish." She whipped her head around to look at Dante who had that grin on his face that told her he was getting in the zone for slaughter, "Start evacuating as many people as you can. Get the Devil Hunters to cover you as well, any that you come across. They will know what's happening almost as soon as they see the place."

"By now anyone could." The tower had reached over a mile into the air and showed no signs of stopping.

"Leave the car." Dante was already out and walking over to where a terrified motorist was trying to get his bike to start. "You'll need to get most people out by foot, otherwise traffic is going to cause absolute chaos." He lifted the biker off the seat and pointed in the direction of out of the city. "Keys!" he demanded.

"What about you?"

"I'm going deeper in. If I can I will stop this thing at its source."

She smiled at his typical attitude, get to the heart as quick as possible. "Right, just don't get too badly injured, right?"

He pulled her in quick and gave her a deep kiss. "C'mon babe, it's me."  
Then the bike revved and he was heading down the street. Trish had to smile at the cavalier way he had of acting. "But who's going to be cleaning your clothes?" she shouted after him.

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This particular group of demons were slowly and surely making their way down the streets. People fled, milling about in confusion in front of them. They made it so easy for a single Pride to jump into the mass and slash with his scythe and fell four a one swipe. Imagine what a group of Blades could do. Even worse were the Death Scythes and Sin Scythes that quickly swept over the huddled masses killing at random and slashing madly. A few hastily armed citizens tried to fight back, but their untrained actions resulted in more attention being focused on them. Within moments they were dead, what little good they could have done overwhelmed by their quick and foolish actions. Then came the roar of a bike. As the demons turned their heads they noticed people diving out of the way of the approaching vehicle. The very fast bike, and the grinning driver. Any denizens of the Underworld knew that grin, and the red coated, silver haired man it belonged to.

"Son of Sparda!" they all moaned simultaneously and leaped right at the bike. Upon arrival, one of the quicker on the uptake Hells noticed, in mid swing, that the occupant was gone. Seven scythes, eight sets of claws and a scissors blade all punctured the fuel tank, nanoseconds before a superheated bullet hit the spilling fuel. The explosion turned the day into night with the flash of the fuel turning to fire in seconds and forcing its way out. With a swing of his giant sword the silver haired man killed another three. Dante stood.

"Alright," he cried as his twin pistols spun in his hands, "let's rock!"

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More demons began to head towards the area where Dante, the Son of Sparda, stood. Temporarily at least. The full army was not here yet and Dante just kept moving forward. But at present he had decided to take on all comers. He stood in the centre of the street, no cover afforded to him, and let his babies just pour out non-stop death. Spinning on the spot Ebony targeted another Pride before flipping to point at the oncoming Blade, while Ivory blasted a couple of Lusts that had gotten within range. At that point several Abysses decided that they wanted a go at him and jumped from the nearest roof. Dante met them halfway. Rebellion swung in crimson arcs as the Dark Knight ripped his way through them. As he landed Dante performed a Stinger attack and tore apart any remaining demons in on the ground. He ran on, rounding the corner, guns out and ready to mash any attacker into the dust. Survivors got fewer and fewer as he pressed on towards the destination he had set himself. Temen ni Gru overshadowed all, it's threat plainly visible and waiting for him. Distracted Dante only had time to note a new attack before he had to fly into a fluid dodging manoeuvre. The twelve Hells had unfortunately got in over their heads as Dante sprang high into the air and let his bullet rain take care of the Prides that had been stupid enough to attack him.

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Arkham and Agnus stood atop the tower and awaited the arrival of their master and his army. Both were still in their human forms, as it was a symbol of power that they were able to manifest themselves in this form under their own power. Unlike so many others that had to rely on collectively gained strength to maintain an image of humanity. Even from their relatively removed perch they could sense the approach of the Son of Sparda. More to the point they could also see his approach quite clearly. The flashes of light reflected off the blade of Rebellion and the equally bright flashes of gunfire indicated that he was progressing however slow. That was the entire plan. They would continue to throw the grunts at him until he had to stop and would be forced to break off his assault on the tower to defend himself. Only problem was, the grunts were quickly being wiped out as they hurled themselves at him in small groups, rather than a concerted attack. Agnus sighed and turned to his companion.

"We should perhaps devote our attention to destroying the remnants of the inhabitants."

Arkham said nothing, merely turning his mismatched eyes to focus on the mass of people moving towards the outskirts of town.

"It would, perhaps, divert his attention, do you not agree?"

"Maybe." Arkham still wanted revenge on Dante too much to forget about fighting him personally. The two former men were classed as Knights, but in truth neither was a real fighter. Not powerful enough to be classed as Generals, but powerful in a different sense Mundus had given them Knight rank rather than create a new class.

"Actually," he began, "I have an idea."

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Out of nowhere more than two hundred Hells attacked Dante. He wasted no time and triggered. Glowing red eyes focused on his enemies and Dante charged, his sword coming down. With a smashing sound he hit the group and tore them apart! Rebellion simply swung in arcs around him as he ripped through sand and scale and blood. In a flash Ebony and Ivory were in his hands and a charged power attack blasted through five. Dante whipped out the sword and swung it twice around his head before the nearest got to him. Just as they did, he spun and swung with the flat. Just like a baseball swing he sent three demons flying up and away. Six fell at the next swing of his sword. But he could feel the devil in him starting to take control, an intoxicating feeling, power and lots of it.

"No!" he roared and let the power dissipate, his trigger collapsing as he did so.

At that point he sustained a series of blows as several Prides struck him, blades embedding themselves through his body. That screwed everything. His eyes turned red instantly and anger took a hold. The explosion as he triggered anew ripped any demon within sixty feet to shreds. Standing in the centre of it all was a Devil Knight, curved horns extending out of his head and curving downwards, wings spread and flexing. With a growl he dispensed of the sword in his hand, using it as a spear to chew through the nearest enemy before he charged them with his clawed hands and feet.

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The retreating humans ran like there was no tomorrow. There wouldn't be if they stopped. Trish was at the back with her twin pistols providing cover for the retreat along with most of the Devil Hunters of the city. The rest would be at the front leading to relative safety and clearing a path. A mage next to her cast a huge fireball that blasted at least seventeen demons apart. Abe was nearby, his crossbow hissing as he sent hundreds of bolts into the attackers. Others were there too, most with guns. One man with a shotgun blasted a Pride that had gotten too close for comfort as near him a woman with a rifle put a precise shot into the nearest Blade dropping it instantly.

"Where are we headed?" she shouted at Trish over the noise of battle.

Before the demoness could answer a huge shape blocked off the remaining light. A Hell Vanguard descended from the sky, scythe flicking from side to side.

"Oh crap." Muttered one of the nearest Hunters, before he snapped up his assault rifle and began to open up a stream of automated fire.

"Are you mad?" one of the other Hunters screamed, grabbing the muzzle, "we can't fight that!"

"You can't." Trish took a sword of one of the other Hunters, "I can!" With that she charged.

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The Vanguard as it turned out was expecting an attack and defended itself viciously. Nevertheless, Trish had the upper hand as she combined her lightning attacks with her sword and guns, channelling her lightning through the sword often and striking hard. What turned the tide though, was a pulse of power from the centre of town, near the tower. Instantly she knew.

"Dante!"

That momentary distraction was all it took. The haft of the scythe struck her across the head and sent her reeling. As the Vanguard advanced, ready to fulfil his orders and decimate the humans, a shape hit it. All Trish could make out through the pain was that it glowed with a fierce blue white light and had six wings. In one blow it sliced right down the Vanguard and cut it in two. A healer was at her side and within seconds Trish was on her feet.

"Justin?"

It was the Hand. He had lost his altered form and looked at her with concern.

"We're too late. Mundus has enough of an advance to actually invade. As of now twenty three Knights have arrived along with six guardian generals for the gates. There is no getting into Temen ni Gru now."

She felt a moment of fear course through her body. "What now?"

Justin considered this for a moment. "Go to the outskirts of Tartarus for the moment. After we regroup we should figure out a plan from there."

"What about Dante?"  
Justin turned to look into the overrun city. "Leave him to me. I'll get him out of there as fast as I can. We'll meet you there."

With a nod the two combatants parted. One was headed out of danger, the other was heading into the thick of it after a dangerously triggered Dante.

* * *

Let me know what you think. Will Dante survive? Will Trish get out in time? Will Justin save them? Where are the others? All will be revealed, same DMC time, same DMC channel in next weeks episode. Please r&r.


	25. Chapter 25

My thanks to all reviewers. To MJ thanks for the advice. Sorry if I do make grammatical mistakes, I will try to keep them out in future. A few are typos. To my other regular reviewers, my sincerest thanks. You guys cheer me up on any blue day and keep on providing a reason to write. By the way, I decided to name Justin's sword.

* * *

**A Problem**

Justin moved like the wind as he bounded over rooftop and leaped across streets. That did not mean that he was left alone, oh no. Dozens of demons tried in vain to get to him and to wound him. He almost laughed at their efforts as they desperately tried in vain. A Hell Pride lunged at him, but he simply twisted out of the way and brought his sword, The Cobalt, around in a lazy backhand swing that sliced through the demon and left it dissolving into sand. A Blade jumped up and at him. Justin met it halfway and blocked the vicious swipe with his blade, only to counter by kicking it up and out of his way. He landed on the far roof and, as an afterthought, fired behind him hitting the Blade in the forehead. In a spray of green-grey blood the Elite collapsed. Justin showed it no mind. He could sense his target, he was getting nearer. A large Devil Knight blocked his path. Justin took a step back.

"What in the world?"

The Knight said nothing, merely pointed his sword at him. With a sigh Justin angled his sword so that the Cobalt was pointing at him. "Alright, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to be hard on you, I'm kinda in a hurry."

-----------------------------

Every swipe of the massive claws resulted in more Hells being sent flying in waves. The red devil knight smashed his way through them, sparing none any mercy, his roars of rage and hatred showing through. As the devil came across the corpse he had impaled with his sword he yanked it out of the corpse and turned his attention back to the task in hand. With a bellow he began to attack the enemies that had remained and turned any that were not ready for his assault into little heaps of sand. Rebellion whirling, Dante threw himself at the nearest enemy and let the sword rip the Assault into six pieces. He blocked an Abysses strike before reaching out and ripping off its head. Various demons moving in to attack him were gaping, which they did anyway but this time there was a little feeling in it. Nothing could hold against this storm of red fury and death that was in front of them. Without further ado, they turned and fled. But they were not getting out of his reach that easily. In a blind rage, Dante chased down the nearest Blade, grabbed with his hand and smashed the weaker demon off the ground several times before he hurled it at the tower.

--------------------------------

On the summit Arkham and Agnus had to dive to either side to avoid the flying carcass of the Assault.

"That may not have been a good idea Arkham."

The bald man smiled. "Do not fear Agnus, he won't get to us."

The bigger man turned to him with a glare. "That's the kind of attitude that got me killed the first time!"

"Take a look down there." Arkham pointed at a pair of duelling figures.

"Ah."

Below them Justin Astartes had hurled the Knight into the air, slashed him several times, grabbed him, swung and hurled him down onto the roof below him. Then he inverted his sword and stabbed down. Dante was less than a street away from him now.

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Dante was desperately trying to reign in his devil side! It had swarmed into his senses and was taking control. His rage didn't help and it was difficult to control this state. It was the reason he never let himself get taken over completely. In the early years he could stay in DT for a good length of time before he had to stop from his energy being drained. Even up till recently that had been the case. What had changed he didn't know. It was an odd feeling, watching through your own eyes as a body no longer under your full control ran after a horde of demons. The devil jumped, wings spread and flew up to one of the roofs where a Scarecrow was attempting to ambush him. With one quick motion, he grabbed the demon sack, pushed off into the air again and ripped it in two. Letting the insects pour out of their container he let out a huge roar that echoed through the town, striking fear into all who knew what it meant. A Knights Challenge call. Any and all opponents would be torn apart in single combat. As he finished the call he suddenly felt a body tackle him.

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With as crash Justin hit the ground. Even as he rolled to his feet Dante was up. Damn he's fast, was the thought that ran through his mind seconds before Dante's fist hit his jaw. Sent flying Justin barely managed to turn what would have been a very painful impact into an undignified landing on the ground. Rebellion came down and the Cobalt went up to meet it. Justin could feel Dante using his new strength to the full, pressing down on the blade, not giving him a moment to recover. Obviously Dante had never let go to such an extent and Justin had to wonder how he was going to get him back out of it. With a frown he forced the sword down and placed a fist right into Dante's jaw. The move was a success as Dante staggered back, twitching for a moment before his devil trigger collapsed and he keeled over unconscious. Justin glanced at his knuckles where the barbs on Dante's chin had left several nasty cuts. A flick and they all simultaneously healed. With a glance towards the unconscious Dark Knight he flipped out a cell phone and dialled a number.

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Ian glanced around at his companions on the train and turned his attention to his cell phone. With a click it slid open and he raised it to his ear.

"Yeah?"

"Ian. It's me."

"Reading you loud and clear bro."

"It's already started. The Temen ni Gru is back, it became active a few hours ago."

"Dammit."

"My thoughts exactly. What your status?"

Ian looked across the carriage to where Kyrie was asleep against Nero's shoulder, Lady and Vergil were absorbed in books and Credo and Lucia were playing cards with Ty, all the while shooting each other looks of mistrust. "We could say we have a few more tagalongs."

"What do you mean?" Ian winced at Justin's tone.

"We have a Captain of the Host, a Devil Clone and another human with us."

"Credo, Lucia and Kyrie I take it."

"Yep."

"Has the Angel killed the Devil yet?" Ian didn't even need the link to figure out what that meant.

"No, but if looks could kill… I think Lucia was protecting Kyrie when Credo arrived so he couldn't indulge in "righteous slaughter" right there and then."

"Keep an eye on them. You know how zealous Angels get at times."

"Will do boss."

"Anyone on the train with you?"

"A couple of people, why."

"Capulet City is overrun. Trish just evacuated the last of the humans along with the rest of the Devil Hunters, I told them to head for Tartarus."

"Good plan, we can easily fit them all in and defend the place to boot."

"I was planning more along the lines of getting them from there to somewhere more safe than right next door to the overrun city Ian."

"Ah right, got you now, a temporary stop so."

"Got it. Anyway, you'll need to get back here as soon as possible. Don't stop the train at any stops within twenty miles of the city. And get those other people off it outside that distance too. Once you get in nearer to the city give me a ring and I'll come to… oh blast!"

Ian heard background noise and immediately sat up straighter. "Justin?"

Everyone in the party immediately looked over to him.

"I gotta go, the welcoming party has arrived and I have to take care of them. See you bro."

"You too boss." The line went dead. Ian turned to look at the rest.

"Ah, we have a problem."

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Justin threw the unconscious Dante up onto his shoulder in a fireman's lift, simultaneously bringing the Cobalt up to point at the lead Knight.

"Look I got a million things better to do then to kill you all here and now, so if you'll just leave me be then I can be off."

"Hello again Hand!" Justin turned his head to see the violet armoured form of Acheron on his left.

Twelve Knights had encircled him and he could not fight them all and protect Dante at the same time. What made things worse was that behind them, he could see another battalion of Hells approaching. Not the best situation, anyone would agree.

"Hey once more to you too, pinky." Justin shot back prompting a shout of laughter from the rest of the Knights. Acheron snarled at them.

"It's not pink! It's purple and it's going to own you!" he pointed at Justin who waved his hand dismissively.

"You said that the last time. I think fifty Elites equals eleven Knights doesn't it?"

"Wrong," chuckled Judicar, who was also there, wagging a finger, "Knights are much harder to kill."

Justin frowned slightly. "You mean like your buddy up there on the roof?" As the entire lot turned to look Justin sent out a mental call.

"You will pay for that!" a black armoured knight wielding a huge morning star mace ground out.

Sensing a new presence Justin cheekily called out. "You really need to get some laxative man. You must have serious constipation to talk like that."

That prompted a round of laughter from the Knights. Trevas slammed his mace into the earth, causing a shock wave to pulse through and narrowly miss the two heroes.

"Back off knight! He's mine!"

----------------------------

The monstrous form of Sammael was creeping down from the pile of cars that Dante had made in his rage.

"So you're the famed Hellhound then." One of the knights sniggered. "You don't look like much."

A tentacle snapped out, grabbed the Knight round the head and dragged him over to Sammael who bit off his head. Immediately every knights attention flicked to Sammael and Judicar pointed his two pronged sword right at him.

"That was a bad mistake."

Sammael spat out the head and it rolled towards the Knight who stopped it with his armoured boot. "Do I look like a care?" Sammael said in a weary voice, "I want the Sparda and the Astartes, out of my way."

Judicar gestured with a hand and all the Knights drew their weapons. "You want him, you come and try getting him. We caught him and you failed."

Sammael shot out a tentacle, but just as it got to him Judicar swung his sword and severed it.

Before any of them realised what happened, two winged forms shot down out of the sky and plucked the pair out of the centre of the ring. As they rose up and away, Justin saw fit to throw a little wave to the lot of them and called out, "Bye bye losers. Next time try and be a little more attentive to detail, yeah?"

They disappeared over the nearest roof leaving the Knights and the General all gaping with open mouths.

Sammael recovered quickest. "After them!" and he bounded off.

Quickly the Knights spread their wings and leaped up into the air. With shrieks and curses they soon realised that they were long gone.

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As they flew off Justin looked at the unconscious man on his back. When you regain your senses man, he thought, we are going to find out just how long you've been having these problems with your PDT.

* * *

Just so you know, PDT was something that Capcom were thinking about introducing into the series a while back, but decided to put on the backburner. It stands for Perfect Devil Trigger, and is basically Dante the form Dante takes when his human side is consumed. Fortunately for him, at the moment it's just in the early stages and he just experiences it when he lets his devil side take control. It happens when he triggers for too long. Review and let me know what you think about it and about the name I gave to Justin's sword. If you don't liek it, give me suggestions as to changing the name.


	26. Chapter 26

Again, apologies for the delay. Exams, blame them, study, blame it. Anyway, here is the next chapter. Forgive me for taking so long. It should be fun. Thanks to all reviewers.

* * *

**A Reunion**

This steely grey platform was empty of life. True life that is, a couple of Marionettes carried on their twisted forms of existence on the platform. They were merely gate guards however, sent and stationed by the Tower to keep watch on incoming locomotives. All passengers were to be captured and taken in for interrogation, Mundus needed answers and any they captured would be most welcome in the torture chambers. Advance units of the Demon Army had already begun to scout out to the west and move out of the city, but they had not yet come across the fleeing human populace. Before long the countryside would be overrun and they would begin their push towards the next city, then the next country, then the next continent, and finally the world.

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The first thing that alerted them was a soft metallic rushing sound, like paper being brushed across steel. The goggle glass eyes of the Marionettes swivelled as they turned to face down the tracks towards the origin of the sound. Even now it was visible, a black dot on the horizon that was getting steadily larger. A rhythmical clacking began to drift up the tracks towards them and by now the train was getting bigger. A few of the Marionettes began to advance to meet it, a couple jumping onto the tracks and awaiting the arrival. They were not disappointed, however bad a tactical decision it was. The four hundred ton train hit them at a speed which showed no signs of abating. With a screech that popped eardrums the train hit the brakes. Screaming in protest the wheels locked and the train skidded to a halt. The forced stop had caused a wall of smoke to drift across the platform and as it cleared a blue coated figure jumped from the train. Glassy eyes readjusting to the confusion the Marionettes realized that he was here, Vergil, the traitorous Dark Slayer. Blades whirred in wooden arms as they all oriented on this new threat. Vergil simply lowered himself into a crouch and gripped the hilt of Yamato. As one the demons threw themselves at him. Only when they were about to hit him did Vergil move.

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Teleporting out of reach Vergil leaped above their heads and to the side. Turning he unleashed a series of rift cuts which sliced through all the targets and left them falling in halves. A simple motion had him sending hundreds of crystalline swords forward into his enemies before he unsheathed Yamato again and charged his former tormentors. As he ran through the lot of them he swept the katana from side to side in a rapid movement. Abruptly he halted and slid the sword slowly back into its sheath. As the Marionettes oriented on him yet again they all slid apart at the seams. All save one. With a click it wound its arm back into the firing position and just as it was about to let fly with the blade there was a gunshot which struck it in the head. Lady lowered the smoking pistol and smiled tightly to herself.

"I didn't need any help." Vergil already looked as if he had just been standing there letting puppets die all around him.

Lady frowned at him as the others came out of hiding. "Harm or not Vergil, that was a good shot." Nero commented as he lifted Kyrie, who protested at the over protectiveness of the Knight, down from the carriage.

"Awesome!" crowed Ty, "She's hot and she can nail anything between the eyes."

"Indeed." Said pistol was now pointed at Ty's face. "Keep talking and you'll find out how good I actually am."

"Enough." Vergil was deep in inspection of several vehicles suitable for getting them back into town. "Let's just focus on getting back to town, shall we?"

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Justin laid Dante down up against the fire escape and turned to the people who had dragged them out of trouble. Again.

"That's five I owe you now Aria."

Aria stood in her altered form. Three silver white wings extended from her back, two on the right, one on the left. The only other noticeable difference was that she seemed more real than what she was standing on, more vibrant, more there. And Justin had to admit, she was cute when she was angry. And she was angry now, more so than when he had ever seen her before.

"You owe me more than you know." One finger pointed at him accusingly. "Tell me why I shouldn't drag your sorry behind before the Gods right now?"

"Because I'm cute?" Justin sniggered to himself. Right before a lightning bolt hit him in the face.

"Don't give me that. Do you have any idea of what has been going on? Do you? You called in two Messengers to pull you out of a jam, you never considered trying it yourself!"

Justin fixed his eyes on the four winged messenger with her and told him, "Leave us!" With a quick bow to his superiors the Messenger departed. Justin turned back to the furious Messenger-General. "Now continue."

"You are pathetic Astartes, you and your group. All Hands are the same, self absorbed, egotistical morons. I think you liked the idea of calling for aid and having me carry you out of there!"

Justin held up a hand and stopped her tirade. "First off, there were eleven knights and Mundus' pet, even I would have been put to the test!" he stated abruptly, "Second, I had an unconscious Dante on my back and there was no way I was going to put him down and watch him be killed because I needed to have full attention on attackers. I was in no way prepared to handle that fight!"

"It doesn't matter. But for the momentary distraction my messengers could be dead!"

"He had gone PDT Aria!"

There was a silence between the two of them. Then she finally managed to croak out, "What?"

"You heard me, PDT, Perfect Devil Trigger. Why do you think he's unconscious?"

Golden orbs focused on the Dark Knight's form. "Is he still sane?"

Justin knelt beside him. "Too early. He must have only just lost it, as soon as he keeled over the form collapsed."

Dante groaned.

"He's snapping out of it." Justin stood. "You'd better go, this is not going to be pretty."

Aria nodded mutely and as her wings swept up for the launch she spoke. "Justin about my shouting at you, I'm…I…"

"Just go." The Hand didn't even look at her. A surge of downdraft told him she'd taken off. For a brief moment he considered calling after her, but then Dante rolled over and started to vomit putting an end to that idea.

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Dante pulled himself back up into a seated position. A somewhat familiar pair of dark ice eyes focused on his face.

"How are you feeling now?"

Dante groaned. "Like the worst hangover ever! Like I drank six bottles of whiskey, then had fourteen bottles of vodka, a couple of crates of wine and forty beers. And then I went bungee jumping afterwards."

"Ah, not good so." Justin pushed himself back from the devil hunter, who took advantage of the fact to retch, again, onto the roof.

Dante caught the towel Justin had thrown to him and wiped his mouth. "Why can I taste blood, I don't think I ate any of them, did I?"

Justin shook his head. "No you didn't, but it always feels like this. Don't you remember when you first triggered?"

Dante gave a short sharp barking laugh. "Nothing like this, I just passed out after that. It felt nothing like this."

"Your human biology is rejecting the devil side effects. The first time it was merely replenishing the energy and working off the effect of a temporary transformation, but this time it was a whole new level of weird. It now has to reject the mindset as well as the physical. Any traces left in your body are having this," he gestured to Dante's current state, "result." Justin paused, "How long have you been feeling the effects of PDT?" he asked.

Dante was silent for a while. Finally he spoke, "I've been having these moments of intense irrational anger for roughly six months, nothing like what happened there."

All was silent between the two. Then Justin stood. "Come on, we better get moving, the Tower is fully active now, it's quite likely that Mundus himself will be arriving soon and with him, all of the Seven Hells. I would," he helped Dante to his feet, "advise that you walk slowly and don't use devil trigger for a while."

"Duly noted. If I may say so, we should get out of here as soon as possible."

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The two knights got on their feet and, Dante staggering a bit, they walked down from the roof and out onto the road. Justin paused there for a moment to get his bearings, and Dante took advantage of the time to get some stomach pills out of the apartment building they had just been in. As the younger man downed them Justin shot him a glance.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Nauseas gone, still have one kicker of a headache."

"Not so bad."

They were interrupted by a crackle of atmosphere and ozone. Temen ni Gru had become fully active and now the full demon army arrived.

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Like a vast black flood Hells, Marionettes and Scarecrows poured out of the Towers gates, the ground turning a sickly brown beneath their very feet. The sky turned dark with Sins, Deaths, Mephistos and Fausts. Fallen and Bloodgoyles swept around the edges of the tower and from the dark recesses of that black hole of hope came clouds of bats and other twisted shapes. Then came the Elite classes, Assaults, Blades, Frosts, Abysses and hundreds of other mid range demons a lot of whom Dante would deal with in some of his day to day hunting. What came next however was what was truly frightening. Atop the tower Agnus flared briefly and took back his true form of Angelo Agnus, the One Eyed Dark Knight. With a wide spread of insectoid wings he took off and joined the horde of Knights who were emerging from all the orifices of the Temen ni Gru, their multitude of wings beating away the myriad of flying demons from around them. Arkham slipped first into the form of Jester, roared with laughter before throwing himself off the edge. Other Knights and Generals joined him on his way down, spilling from various windows and cracks in the walls like maggots out of a corpse. Halfway down the Nightmare form overtook him and the devilish tank rolled down the side of the Tower. Over the summit of the immense structure appeared the triple orb appearance of Mundus, observing his second invasion of the human realm.

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The two Knights stood on the roof gaping.

"This, I think, is taking things too far." Dante grumbled, "I mean, I knew Mundus was a bad loser, but he didn't have to bring his entire army just to try and make things even."

Justin shot him a glance. "You never stop, do you?"

"Nope!" Dante replied with a grin.

"Well let's get out of here before…"

"Going somewhere?" Sammael poked a head over the wall, claws digging into the stonework.

"As a matter of fact, I think Dante has a date with a hot blonde this evening."

"Yeah she's really electrifying so I gotta be on time."

Sammael chuckled. "No wonder Lord Mundus kept your brother around, he must have been the life of the party. As for the beauty, Trish, well I do believe she's promised to any who wish to make use of her, "facilities" after we capture this world."

Dante's eyes flared dangerously red and his voice had a metallic undertone as he replied through gritted teeth, "I will kill you the next time we meet!"

Justin coughed and directed the younger mans gaze to the mess he had made earlier and Dante seemed to get the message that now was not the best time for threats considering his condition. The two began to edge back and the Hand muttered to the Dark Knight, "Think you are able to run and jump?"

"Pretty sure of it, yeah. Why?"

"'Cos now we, RUN!" Justin roared the last word, turned and sprinted for the edge of the roof, Dante not a split second behind him.

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Leaping from balcony to ledge to roof, sprinting along said roof then jumping to another. Hybrid and Immortal ran side by side as Dante and Justin raced away from the Dark Emperors personal Hunter. Sammael was only moments behind with his tentacles and claws easily allowing him to keep up. Justin jumped out over a street and used his gravity repulse ability to run sideways along the wall of the opposite building. Dante used the Quicksilver style to slow time and jump. With gravity having less time to pull at him he sailed across the gap, landing easily on the opposite roof. Sammael jumped, threw out a tentacle to latch onto a bridge pylon and swing himself across the gap. In a second his thick claws had latched into the stone work and he was pursuing both.

"He's herding us back towards the tower!" Dante roared over the side to where Justin had flipped up onto the roof beside him.

"Better change direction then."

The two veered away to one side and jumped, vaulting off pipes to propel themselves to the opposite side. Sammael's roar of annoyance was evidence enough that he had a problem with this plan.

---------------------------

Dante hurled Rebellion off his shoulder towards a second story window. In a crashing of glass it split the central frame and the two jumped from the gable. Sammael was barely a second behind them and he jumped right after them. A burst of lightning hit him mid jump and he fell sideways. In a car at the corner of the street, just below the window where the two men were looking out, Trish massaged her wrist. As Sammael tried to get out of the hole he had landed in Lady fired a missile into the wall above. With a huge crash a pile of brick and mortar fell on his head.

"Will that be enough to stop him?" Lucia asked.

"Not on your life sweetheart. He'll keep coming until someone slices his heart in two." Ty shifted the car into third gear as the two runners landed in the car.

"That duty is mine." Dante said in a flat tone of voice.

Trish grabbed his jaw and kissed him fiercely, but broke it off very quickly.

"Yeah, I was just about to say don't try any tonsil hockey until I've washed my teeth babe." Dante grinned as Trish scowled at him and let loose a fistful of electricity into his head.

"Where to?" Credo called from the other car.

With one of his tight smiles Vergil turned his attention forwards. "To Tartarus Castle."

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Like it, dislike it, review and tell me. As you can see, the whole Underworld is here now. Prepare for the biggest battles you have ever seen coming soon. Like the next chapter.


	27. Chapter 27

Alright, the first thing in order is an apology. I have been somewhat distracted and busy for the past while and gettting work done was a bit time consuming. Nevertheless, I have finally got some new stuff to upload. Just so you know, I have started a new project professionally (in a sense, i haven't been paid yet), and that is the reason for my delay. I must say thanks for the reviews, and more pointedly, for the requests. So without me talking much longer, here it is.

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**A View**

Stark, foreboding and a sign of menace, that was the Temen Ni Gru, the great tower and the largest entrance to the world from the Underworld ever built. It stood as a testament to the great foolishness of humanity that it had been built by them. A Tower, built by humans who worshipped the demonic, only to find that the demonic was very welcoming of their praises and decided to grant the wishes of the people. The best way to do so was to come and rule. It had come as a shock to many when the humans had changed their minds about this, but the Dark Emperor was driven to a fury. He ordered a full scale invasion of this world and its utter destruction. How ironic. The Underworld was returning in force for the second time, and people were a lot more welcoming this time. How times change. Now the Temen Ni Gru was fulfilling its purpose by facilitating their return, as the original human builders had intended it to do.

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At the summit of the tower was a curious sight. Three glowing red orbs, linked by red lightning hovered there in mid air. Any who knew what they meant stayed away from the area, any who didn't were soon enlightened. Mundus' Avatar, that's what they were called, these sinister globes of his raw power. Through them the Dark Emperor kept a watch on the progress of his horde. From where his gaze swept across the land he could see anything with a hundred miles of the summit and was constantly searching for one thing. The Sons of Sparda. Their name was a foul, bitter taste in his mouth, a memory of shame and defeat. Twice he had made a Sparda his chief lieutenant, their martial prowess had never been in doubt, and both times a Sparda had assured his downfall. The former, the lieutenant himself had grown rebellious and fought against him, the latter, the twin of his slave had come and destroyed his chances of conquest. The slave had even held back his power enough to be defeated himself and his armour dissipated.

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Sons of Sparda! His thoughts ran red hot at the mere thought of their names, Dante, Vergil and Nero. The first had stopped him on Mallet, the second had managed to break his hold on him and the youngest had stopped a perfect opportunity to take his revenge when a psychopath had attempted to seize control of the world. What was worse, a powerful Hellgate had been destroyed and now Fortuna was a bastion against him. Again he cursed the Spardas. He was glad he had killed their mother, she had caused him enough pain and destroyed countless attempts to take what was rightfully his back. May Eva be damned to walk eternity alone! he thought ferociously. Dante, the most powerful of the three, was a lethal combination of human heroism and inhuman strength and power, a pain in the ass if ever there was one. Childish and courageous didn't often mix, but he managed both. Vergil was ice and rage combined into a single deadly form. An iceheart like him was never distracted and never let anyone stop him. Focused and deadly he was unstoppable. And then there was the youngest, Nero. Once his anger was roused he could be nothing more than a battering ram to smash any target that was placed in front him. Even worse he had the traits of both Vergil and Dante combined into him, cocky up to the point when it became personal. Then he became even more dangerous than normal, that arm of his making him even harder to kill than normal, a separate power source that could draw him back from a pain that would kill a normal creature, of any type, angel demon or human. This war had twofold reasons, one was his seizure of power and the other was to kill the spawn of that traitor.

------------------------------

A scuffling of stone near the edge alerted him to the approach of a friend. Mundus had been so wrapped up in his musings that he had not realised that his Hunter was climbing the side of the tower.

"What?"

Sammael crouched on the edge of the large platform. "The Sparda and the Hand escaped the city my lord."

"Does that interest me?"

"The Sparda was showing signs of sickness."

Mundus tried to keep the disinterest from his voice, Sammael was a good Hunter, if a little unimaginative. The Dark Emperor preferred Knights to be his Hunters, but they were not exactly cooperative, or trustworthy, at this present time. For now Sammael was the best there was. "Tell me why exactly I should be concerned about that."

"They ran from battle."

"Did you think that was due to you?"

The Devil General raised his crocodilian head. "I would assume it was due to your great power mighty Mundus."

The three orbs twisted in a way that suggested that Mundus was raising his eyes to heaven. "No you imbecile! The Astartes knows when to fight. Having a sick man on hand to hold him back is not the best thing to do when you are slowly being surrounded. Pray you never see that boy at his most powerful!"

The Hellhound bowed his head, chastised. "My Lord, I stand corrected."

This Hunter was not as rebellious as the last, making him less of a challenge than the last one had been.

---------------------------------

"Hunter," Sammael looked up. "Order the army to start their advance out of the city. I intend to be halfway across the continent by sunset. Bring the word to the commanders."

Bowing his head, the Hellhound dug his claws into the ground and climbed over the edge. With sharp intent and strong grip the Hellhound began his limb down the walls of the Temen ni Gru, his mind focused and his obedience absolute. Growling he reached the first ledge and he let himself in through it. As he stalked through each level he passed gaggles of Hells and Marionettes and Scarecrows, groups of armoured knights, even a few cloisters of Generals. It was the Generals that he wanted to see.

"Zau'ba, Dabharchu, Draco, his Imperial Majesty has given his orders. Find your fellows and tell them that the Mighty Mundus is ready to march on the rest of this world. Then we move out. His majesty intends for us to have seized the next city by sunset."

A Fallen drifted lazily in. The demons and devils in the room ignored it largely. Or they threw it looks of disgust. Traitors were hated on both sides, it was fortunate for the Fallen that Mundus welcomed their service or the Knights would probably have murdered them. Once a traitor had chosen treachery, then they would do so again. Useful until they attempted to change sides, that was all these Fallen were.

"I have information you may find intriguing." It spoke to Sammael, knowing he was the conduit to the Devil Emperor.

"Whatever information you can give me I will need to hear verified by another source." The Hunter was slightly bored by this creature already. "Speak."

In a voice that was best described as a huff the fallen angel spoke, "I witnessed this myself, I think I should be allowed a little credit for it."

A tentacle snaked around its neck in a second. "If you intend to live much longer then you will need to learn some respect for your elders. There is much here you do not know and if you keep up the attitude then you will never learn. Maybe in happy land you could speak your mind. Here, however, you must obey your superior. Get that into your thick head before I crush it." This was underlined by a vicious tightening of the tentacle.

"My Lord Mundus will be desirous to know that the Spawn of Sparda are still within the city limits. I sent airbourne units to intercept them."

At once Sammael snapped his head up and barked out to the Knights who were still in range.

"Go!"

There was a crack as the Hellhound snapped the neck of the Fallen. "That will be my little piece of information to give to the Great One. A way of getting back in his good books perhaps."

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The two cars sped like crazy vehicles down the streets. A Fallen had spotted them and sounded the alarm. Within moments the number of things in the sky had gone from a couple of birds to at least five hundred demons. Swooping, cackling and screaming they began their attacks. Only to be met with the full power of one Angel Knight, three half Devil Knights, two Devil Clones and three Hands. Needless to say the battle was slightly one sided. At least initially, then more started to arrive. Nero let Blue Rose speak for him, shots flying into the mass of enemies, rapidly picking off the approaching Sins and Deaths. Ebony and Ivory sang their twins song, spewing out destruction for the attacking monsters. Crystalline swords stabbed the sky in their hundreds as Vergil cut loose, with Credo adding his own barrage to the tally. Bullets from Glories Blaze and Infernos Sons also added to the carnage.

"Their blocking us!" was all Trish could get out before she had to slam the car to one side. Beside her Lady had to perform a hand break turn just to avoid her. The long serrated claw of a Faust stabbed into the car door beside her and Lady snapped.

"Damn you all!"

In a moment she had grabbed and aimed Kalina Ann. Less than a second later and a missile had exploded in the middle of the cloud, causing death and destruction. Pieces of Mephisto and Sin Scythes cascaded all around, accompanied by the streams of blood from dying Bloodgoyles.

"How long do you reckon that gives us?" Credo was ever the military tactician.

"A couple of minutes, less maybe. Reinforcements will be en route as we speak. Probably with more powerful Generals as well." Vergil's response was quick and to the point.

"All the more reason for us to get going." Dante spun in his seat, keeping an eye on the sky, "Trish, floor it!"

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Speeding was suddenly no longer an arrestable offence. Both cars were high tailing it out of the city as fast as possible. Even as they drove Justin sat in complete silence. He glanced over at his two brothers who were already watching him, awaiting orders. Time had run short, now he needed to make sure that the others succeeded where he had failed. This had to be stopped. Mundus would destroy everything in his lust for power, say nothing of his lust for revenge. If they were caught now, it would be the end of everything. Dante, Vergil, Nero, they would be murdered where they stood. Trish, Lady, Lucia and Kyrie would all die as well, mostly as a means of torturing the three. Credo would probably be twisted until he went on a mad rampage against his former comrades and died on their blades. As for himself and his brothers, he glanced across at the other car, he didn't want to think about it. No torture, no murder, they would simply and quickly be forced to initiate a purge. Something he would forever hate himself for. Another wrong to add to my tally, he thought bitterly.

"Here they come again!"

Whoever had sounded the alarm, it had sounded like Kyrie, it didn't matter. Justin locked his eyes on the attackers and he immediately knew his worst fears had been realised. This was a huge force, dozens of Knights and Generals and at their forefront came the Hellhound. Basilisks, Mephisto's Sin Scythes and Scissors, Death Scythes and Scissors, Bloodgoyles, Fausts and seven Hell Vanguards were gaining on them. He made his choice quickly.

----------------------------------------

Dante was startled when Justin turned to him and said quickly, "Whatever happens, don't stop the cars."

A nod from the other two and they all jumped out.

"What the hell?" Nero couldn't believe his eyes.

Kyrie looked at him aghast. "You can't just leave them there."

Dante said nothing, except, "Drive." Then he turned his back.

Kyrie spun to Credo, "Credo, go help them."

Nero took her hand in his. "Kyrie, you and I both know that we can't help them. They've done this to help us. If we stop now we have destroyed all that they have fought for."

She didn't look very happy about this turn of events, but she sat down without commenting.

Nero glanced up at his older brother. "You'd better make something of this Dante."

Vergil threw his twin a glance, but the red clad hybrid said nothing.

But he was thinking the same thing.

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Justin watched the cars vanish around the corner before he turned his attention to the onrushing army. He could now see the legions of Hells that swarmed behind the advance units.

"Well?"

Ian stood on his left and Ty on his right. Both awaited the answer to Ian's question.

"This is it."

"Finally," Ty rolled his shoulders to allow some tension out, "And we can cut loose, right?"

Justin nodded slightly. "Better if we did. All the attention we can get."

Ian was more sombre. "You do know they could kill us, easily with that number."

Again Justin let out a small nod, his eyes never leaving the army which was only two hundred metres away.

"This one is to the death guys."

One moment they were unarmed, the next all three had weapons out and pointing at their foe. The second the army crossed the hundred metre mark the three charged.

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This is the view of the Underworlds total and utter occupation of the city of Capulet and their subsequent advance out of it. Three men charge an army, weapons drawn. Before they clash, two of the three change into an altered form, the third merely lights up his eyes. The other army does not stop, or falter, and washes over them. It develops into a roiling ball of combat. But that is not the only route out of the city. More armies advance out of the city limits, preparing for their own separate strikes. A moderately large army prepares to besiege Fortuna, a smaller one prepares to move against the only other fortress in range, Tartarus. The last and final army, by far the largest, a veritable horde, begin their march across the world. Conquest is to be theirs. Across the globe more and more Hellgates activate and demons spew forth. Vast and endless, the all consuming snake still coils out of the Tower, and over it all an Avatar keeps watch, laughing in endless pride as this, his greatest work finally comes to fruition.

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Across the globe, a convocation of priests gather to agree that this is beyond humanity. They begin their summoning. A host in Fortuna cheer unabashedly as they sense the arrival of their own comrades and an evening of the sides in this war.

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Outside the bounds of reality, a group of eyes watch all of the developments. The die had been cast and now the fate of the world rested entirely in the hand of one individual. Like it usually did.

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There you have it. I hope this makes up for the delay and I can tell you know, you ain't seen nothing yet when it comes to battles.


	28. Chapter 28

**A** new chapter. Well, I'm back, at long last. Exams are over and I'm back on track. Good song for this chapter is the song End of all Hope by Nightwish. Coincidentally, Hoshisama Valmor has a brilliant Devil May Cry video to this song. Just type in Devil May Cry End of all Hope and it's one of the first ones up. Inspired this chapter. Enjoy.

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**A Siege**

Green flashed by as the two cars raced out of the city, heading towards the castle at a speed that was leaving Nero seriously green. As they drove Dante turned to his partner.

"I thought you were supposed to be at the castle already?"  
"I got a call from Lady," explained Trish, "she said that they were heading into the city. Enzo had things well in hand, so I handed the reins over to him and met up with them."

"It was dangerous."

"Since when has that stopped me."

"Case in point."

Dante swerved to avoid something in the middle of the road. With a screech the car halted. Leaping from the car Nero hurried over to where the item lay. It was a spent shotgun casing. Several more lay in a line over to the side of the road, along with spent nine millimetre ammunition cases. Nero turned and waved a hand at the others to stay in the car and chased after the trail. More lay in a relative straight line, but that wasn't what worried him. Along with the cartridges were splotches of blood. One single enhanced sniff was enough for him to know. Then he found them. Two male bodies lay protectively over the bodies of two girls and a kid of less than nine, all bathed bright crimson. The two men had been disembowelled and the younger generation had been viciously mauled to death. Nero felt a sense of utter sorrow that gripped his stomach and clenched it tightly. Obviously what had happened was the younger kids had panicked and run. The two older men, guards obviously, had rushed after them, trying to stop the demons who had undoubtedly gotten too close for comfort. The demons had picked the stragglers and brought them to ground here. Plenty of demon blood was scattered here as well, leading him to gather that the men had given their lives dearly, but given them nonetheless. Nero noted something right then. There was a severed hand on the ground, in its grasp a handgun. At that point he heard a growl from behind him. Slowly Nero cast a glance over his right shoulder, whilst his hand closed over Blue Rose. Behind him was a wolf-like demon, a head dangling from his mouth, the head of the third man. Except that this was no man. This was a boy his own age, a look of terror still fixed on his face. Behind the blank expression Nero wore, the sorrow turned to pure rage. The head dropped, the wolf-demon howled, and Blue Rose exploded.

--------------------------

Nero left the roadside and climbed back into the car.

"Let's go." He muttered.

Credo raised an eyebrow. "What was it?" he asked quietly.

Nero shook his head slightly. "A wounded demon, nothing more." It was best if they didn't know. Right now was not the time.

At that point another one of those things howled. Then another, then another until the howls were all around them and echoing through the sky.

"Well," Dante slammed on the gas, "looks like it invited company. Nice going kid."

Nero huffed as he drew out Blue Rose again and checked the cylinder. But a hand on his arm made him look up. Kyrie gave him a small, sad smile, and in that moment he knew that she had read him. She knew. Nero had to cast his eyes down and she quickly laid her head on his arm. Just before he turned around and blasted one of the attackers in the head.

---------------------------------

The cars careened around the bends in the roads, wolves on their tail, guns blazing. At the speed they were going at, they'd either have to go to ground, or crash.

"How close are we?" Lady demanded from her position, from which she was sending a wave of submachine gun ammunition into the approaching horde.

"About a half mile!" came the shouted response.

"Then they'd better be ready for this, because we haven't lost them yet!"

Dirt scattered everywhere as Dante spun his wheel and sent the car skidding away from one of the wolves which had gotten too close for comfort. Nero snatched one of the nearest ones and smashed it into the ground, letting the impact pulverise the creatures flesh and bones. Well placed shots from Lady and Lucia knocked more down as the Devil Hunters kept up a withering barrage. But it wasn't enough.

"Gates in sight!"

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Far ahead of them a single barrel poked out of a concealed hide, scoped in on a nearby target and a finger squeezed the trigger.

With a ringing crack the .50 calibre bullet smashed through the lead demons head, sending the monster flying backwards with most of its top half missing. As if on cue the entire road ahead of the cars seemed to erupt in gunfire. Dante saw a jeep with a minigun mounted on the back roll out of its hiding place and start the spray. Red hot bullets smashed their way through all the demons, creating a spread of crimson that darkened the road beneath them. A grenade smashed right into a demon which was about to jump at the car, causing the monster to stop for a brief moment as it registered a hit. Then the explosive detonated sending slimy gobbets of demon flesh in all directions. The rest of the crew were turning to run when out of the foliage covering one side of the road burst a huge shape. Mechanically whirring the creature picked up one of the demons who was attempting to flee and with one squeeze, crushed it. Another one jumped at him, but a buzz saw whined and the monster was bisected. A small port opened on his arm and a flamethrower emerged. A flare of intense yellow flame burst from it and encompassed one of the demons. With a choking screech the monster fell, its charred corpse staining the ground black.

----------------------------

The two cars screeched to a halt and the hybrid looked around. Twenty six devil hunters emerged from the cover they had been using for the ambush. Dante smiled.

"Enzo Ferrino, you sly fox."

Enzo grinned and gestured expansively. "Welcome Dante, do you like this?"

"So far, yeah, but I want to see what you've done with the refugees."

Enzo led the tired group out of the woods, both figuratively and literally, and brought them into the camp that had been set up for the people. Everywhere the eye could see were people by the dozen. There were thousands of them, all taking shelter in whatever cover they could. Since most people had fled without possessions, this led to quite a few a problems. Most namely that people had no building materials and no extra clothing. Already there were going to be fights about territory. Dante shook his head.

"This is madness Enzo. Look at these people." Dante pointed in a wide circle from where they were. "How many of these do you think will last the night with no shelter, no extra clothing and no protection from the elements, to say nothing of demons?"

Enzo didn't answer.

Vergil gave his customary glare in the direction of the general populace. "These are city people. They aren't even outdoors people, let alone survivors. How long do you reckon they'll last?"

Enzo glared at the elder twin. "I did the best I could with what I had. Dante said to head here, so I did."

"I meant inside the castle Enzo." Dante was somewhat tired, as evidenced by his demeanour. In addition his recent trial had left him drained.

Professor Fate, the wacko with the very effective armoured suit spoke up. "But that place is haunted!"

Dante shook his head. "Empty perhaps, but not haunted." He stood. "We need to get everyone inside ASAP."

"In case more of those things come here?"

Nero shook his head. "Not if, when." He corrected.

"This will be one of the first places they hit. It's nearby, within easy reach and packed with people." Credo added his own view on the situation.

--------------------------------

In actual fact, it was only three hours later that they found themselves on top of the wall preparing for said assault. About an hour ago, just after they had gotten everyone inside the gates of the castle, Credo had returned from his scouting mission, bringing word that the enemy was on the move and would be there before the end of the hour. He had been right. Now, the field where people had once gathered was littered with hundreds of Hells, Marionettes and Scarecrows. Various other species of demon flitted around the outskirts of the huge army preparing for the attack. Overhead, Fausts, Mephistos, Sins and Deaths swept through the air, which was rapidly darkening with the presence of ethereal evil. All along the walls were scattered little clumps of grenades, extra ammunition, arrows, bolts and swords. Dante had broken out his entire stock of Devil Arms, and had outfitted everyone in his little troupe. But the situation still looked grim.

"Any tips Dante?" one of the hunters asked him as he walked past, checking the structure for any weak points.

Dante turned to look at him with an amused smirk. "You want me to tell you that their armour is weak under the shoulder, or some crap like that?" at the nod he laughed quickly, "No need. Just blast them in the head as fast as you can." There was a general chorus of laughter from the nearby hunters.

"The humans laugh in the face of their impending deaths." Vergil said in a low tone as Dante approached him. He was sitting on a step busily cleaning Yamato with a cloth.

"Don't go there Vergil." Dante warned him quietly as he sat.

"I mean it Dante, but not in the sense that you think. Both Lady and yourself showed me long ago that humanity was not a weakness and a deterrent to courage. It was the power I craved, but that is not what I'm talking about. Perhaps a sombre mood is necessary."

"Better that they laugh, than cry when they realise how many of them are going to die."

Vergil chuckled darkly, then stood. "Ready?" he asked, reaching down a hand.

Dante gripped it. "Hell yeah!"

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Marching ranks halted. A thick forest of scythe blades wavered whilst a sea of feet shuffled back into proper line. Throughout the mass of lesser breeds were scattered clumps of Blades, Assaults and Frosts. Those were going to be trouble that was for certain. Shock troops always were. They were led by a Knight, tall clad in navy armour and readying a vicious looking sword.

"Surrender half breeds, and you will be spared."

His response was a high calibre bullet which sheared through his shoulder and sent him staggering to the ground.

"Come on if you think you're hard enough!" shouted a couple of the defenders.

The knight cursed and gripped his shoulder, which was leaking his greenish blood all over the ground. Spinning he looked at his troops and then jerked a head at the fortress. With a roar, they charged.

"Ready?" Nero stalked through the ranks of the defenders, all one hundred and fifty of them, as he directed their fire against the oncoming four thousand. "Aim!" He drew out Blue Rose and levelled it. "Fire!"

Machine gun fire exploded from the mouths of over a hundred guns. The entire front rank was mown down in a hailstorm of lead. Those only injured were crushed under the weight of their fellows. With a whine the mini-gun, which had been mounted on the walls, began to power up. Bolts from Abe's crossbow and arrows from the archers began to fall among the attackers as well. In addition, the few mages they had among the group let loose their more powerful spells and fireballs began to erupt in the midst of the Hells. Then the rest of the crew opened fire. Kalina Ann sent a missile in, dozens of crystalline swords impacted, Ebony and Ivory spoke in a stream of lethal metal and Luce and Ombra let hundreds fall beneath their muzzles. Then the mini-gun opened up. Scything through rank after rank the lethal weapon let its work speak for itself. Dante silently thanked whoever was keeping an eye on the battle for the time to put the thing on the walls. Deadly sniper fire from higher positions added to the chaos. But still they came. Despite his good advice to blast them rapidly, Dante could see that they were getting closer. They had started at two hundred yards from the walls, now they were within twenty and getting closer. Then they started to return fire. Marionettes sent their lethal projectiles over the walls towards the defenders. Blades and Frosts unleashed their own deadly projectiles. One of the Hunters got hit in the upper arm. With a scream he fell, blood pumping out of the wound. Instantly fire from the defenders began to get a little crazy. In a blood rage, the Devil Hunter ripped out the talon and jammed his smoking gun muzzle into the wound. He screamed again as the bloodied mess that was his bicep cauterized with the heat. With his shoulder on fire, he staggered upright and out of the way, down towards the medical bay, where, already, anyone who knew anything about medicine was at the ready. One less on the wall. Next person hit was in a worse state. The blade shot over the parapet and struck the girl directly in the forehead. For a moment she didn't realise she was dead, then she reached up a hand to her wound and fell backwards. That was sufficient. Enough attention was now diverted and enough strain was initiated. The attackers began to scale the wall.

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"Close quarters!" Vergil called in a calm measured voice.

It didn't matter, there was a clatter as men and women went for their weapons. Shotguns, pistols, the bravest picked up swords and spears. Nobody really liked the idea of getting in close with a demon. Dante reached over his shoulder and Rebellion flashed down. Yamato was out in a second. Red Queen revved quickly and the whole defending group stepped back from the parapet to give themselves room. Credo smirked at Lucia.

"This is where angels operate best." He gleefully told the devil.

Lucia snorted in derision, then drew her cutlaseer. "Good. Now stay out of my way."

The enemy reached the top. Dante hurled himself at them and Rebellion cleaved through four at once, sending green blood spattering across the battlements. Seeing their leader getting down and dirty with their mortal enemies, the rest of the Devil Hunters shouted their battle cries and joined with the foe. Nero ripped through five with his Devil Bringer, then charged another six with his charged Red Queen sending them flying off. Vergil let his Dark Slayer abilities take over and he sent rift cuts slashing through their ranks. His silver blade whirled in a pattern that none could follow. Trish unleashed Alastor in a lethal bind of electricity and edged weapon. Whirling high and cutting low the Devil Arm ripped through the innards of a demon and scattered them to the four winds. Dante jumped high and spun, letting a bullet rain take down anything in his way, each of the lethal projectiles finding its mark in a demons head. Lady had both her pistol and her submachine gun out and she let the rapid fire weapon cut down anything that came near her. Credo swung his massive sword and the weapon ripped through three demons. Lucia flipped gracefully through the air and threw her knives. Each of them embedded itself in an enemy.

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The number of attackers increased. Swarming up the side they began to hurl themselves up the walls, gripping the tiniest of cracks and swinging up. Hells began to scale the battlements, only to be hurled back down. But they began to gain ground. To Dante's left, two hunters fell, one with a scythe through the gut, the other without a head. Behind Vergil a Blade managed to wing a human, leaving the human to collapse in pain and his partner having to cover him. Another human swordsman struck out and destroyed a Marionette, only to have to retreat quickly as about three Hells lunged at him.

The gates were the main target. Hells, Marionettes and Scarecrows were not, by nature, climbers and trying to get over the walls in a flood was not going to work. So they needed the gate open. That's where they were headed right then. Weapons flashing they engaged the Devil Hunters guarding the place. The fact that they were beaten back at all was a testament to the defenders skill and bravery.

"Nero! The gatehouse. Get to it!" Vergil roared, before he spun and dismembered a Blade into six pieces.

Nero charged, letting his revved up Red Queen rip through the enemy. Limbs and severed body parts flew as the weapon cleaved a path. Nero arrived just in time. A fresh wave of Assaults hit the area. With their shields, speed and lethal claws they would have ripped through the defenders had Nero not grabbed one of them by the tail and battered them back.

"Dante!" he roared, "We need to get them off the wall now!"

Dante looked around. Everywhere he looked Hunters were being pressed on the defensive. One of them with a halberd smashed down a Scarecrow, only to have six more take its place. Nero was right, they wouldn't last much longer.

"Vergil, Credo, Lucia." He shouted above the noise as he parried another swipe and disembowelled the Frost. Bluish grey organs and icy blood pooled around its feet and it fell. "Get these things off the wall. Use whatever means necessary!"

Lucia nodded. "All of you get back!"

In a burst of light the three Devil Triggered. In an instant Vergil had transformed into a humanoid piece of speed and power. He moved at a speed almost too fast to follow with the naked eye and nothing survived his onslaught. Credo's massive shield sent demons tumbling from the top of the wall, screaming as they fell into the cluster of the comrades. Lucia moved in a blaze of grace and agility as she pulled out all the stops. Trish joined them a second later and added her own fearsome lightnings to the mess. Nero shrugged and allowed his own trigger to manifest. In a matter of minutes the five of them had cleared the walltop. Dante was the only one who had not unleashed his power. He knew, that if he had he would have gone beserk again. For now, they had a respite, but he knew the demons would return.

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Sorry if the ending seems a bit quick, but that is how battles go, in some instances. As always, review, and enjoy which is most important.


	29. Chapter 29

I realise that this has been a long time in the coming. Believe me, I wish it hadn't. I disliked the way the chapter was going so I had to stop and rewrite it. A big shoutout to Satanic Park of Madness who has constatnly reviewed. I am honoured dude. Anyway, I understand that the last battle scene was a little difficult to understand so I tried to make this one as succint as possible. Cheers.

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**A Sortie**

"What we need is a group of proper close quarters fighters that can be more of a help if they come over the wall again."

Vergil had his fists clenched on the table and was leaning forward to emphasize his point. They were presently clustered around a table in what had been dubbed "the war room" by the defenders. There had been three more attacks on the walls since, but they had been beaten off successfully. However, every time the enemy gained the wall, the Devil Hunters had shown that they were not capable of close quarters fighting. It made sense that against an enemy who excelled at close quarters battle, you stuck to ranged combat. Out of all the whole one hundred and two, roughly twenty five were capable of giving a good account of themselves in the midst of close quarters combat. Of these, maybe ten were competent in difficult situations. Vergil was not about to have to carry the whole burden himself, Nero was similar position and even Trish was feeling the strain. The past three attacks had only ended when the "super defenders," as they had been dubbed by the people here, had literally taken the brunt of the fighting and blasted them off. Time was getting shorter. Each attack left more dead and each attack drained more of their strength. What Vergil was proposing, and Nero was supporting him in, was that they get the fighters who were good at close quarters and hold them solely for that purpose. A sort of backup squad who would be able to take the fight to the enemy when they tried to gain a foothold at the top of the wall. Lady opposed it, feeling that they needed every gun. Kyrie, who was in charge of taking care of the wounded, a fact she loathed, also opposed it, on the grounds that they were losing fighters too fast anyway, trying to get into close battle would only add to the numbers they were going to lose. Dante was fast losing the rag, due to his being required to run the damn show as well as listen to the bickering. Trish and Credo were still on the walls and Lucia was performing a reconnaissance mission. Right now, Vergil was making his case again.

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"If, and only if they have a chance to breach our defences will these Hunters be called upon."

Lady slammed her fists on the table as well and gritted her teeth as she outlined a very valid fact. "We haven't got enough CQC men for the task you're proposing Vergil. We need the guns they can fire."

"When the Hells come over the walls then their guns will be of little use to us." Vergil retorted.

Kyrie added a blow to the argument. "If they can hold off the attackers before they reach the walls, won't it be better?"

Vergil dismissed her comment with a wave of a hand and a curt, "You've not been on the walls, ergo you have not seen the numbers we are talking about. With them it is not, if they reach the walls, but instead a matter of when."

He said all of this in a superior tone, with his eyes half closed, so he never saw Lady hand the other girl, who had a face as red as her hair, a revolver pistol. Dante sniggered moments before Kyrie blasted Vergil in the face. Nero rolled his eyes. Vergil had to have hit on that particular note.

"The only reason, mister demon princeling, why I have not been on the walls, is because my somewhat overprotective boyfriend over there won't let me anywhere near them."

Dante's smirk grew wider. Nero rushed to try and cover up the weakness in his image.

"It's for your own good Kyrie. Besides, it's a real battle out there, and you're not ready to see this kind of action."

Dante's smirk grew even wider at the mention of "action" and Nero was quick to try and drop the subject. "Now is not the time, Kyrie, for this conversation."

"Don't give me that chauvinistic bull Nero, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."

Vergil arose from beneath the table, like a phantom rising from the deeps, which was not far from the truth. Blood cascaded down his forehead like water from a fountain and he grunted as the wound sealed up. Crimson eyes locked on the two girls who felt a mix of fear and slight annoyance that the half devil would continue to get up. For a few brief moments they all sat in silence waiting to see if the elder son would snap, but he didn't. Instead the fire cooled and his usual icy demeanour returned.

"What the hell Verge?" asked Dante.

"I was counting to ten." Vergil replied brusquely, "though I may reconsider it." He finished after he saw the gleam of mirth in the eyes of the two girls.

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"They're coming back!"

The alerting shout from outside had Dante out the door before anyone could even blink. He had rested, if only briefly while they had a respite and now he was back up to something like his peak. It showed. Outside on the walls as they ran up to them, hundreds of Hells were coming closer. Accompanying them were dozens of Assaults. It looked like it was going to be another attempt at storming the wall. Dante was beginning to get a little peeved with all of this.

"Vergil, Nero!" he called over his shoulder, "Keep them off the wall. I'm going to need a little workout after my little rest." With his typical smirk he stepped forward.

It always surprised him that no matter how many time they refused, Mundus always had an emissary there to try and convert them to his side. Why Dante didn't know, perhaps it had something to do with Vergil's stint as his right hand, or Sparda's, however long ago it was. Perhaps it was out of spite, hoping that they'd reject their mothers human side and become completely devil. However, this time he felt the need for a more blunt refusal.

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Trish and Lady were already at the parapet as Nero came out of the hallway, Kyrie hurrying behind him. He paused only briefly to turn to her and say, "Stay here."

Kyrie grabbed his arm as he turned to go. "Don't get hurt." She murmured quickly and quietly, all previous consternation at their argument gone.

Nero reached out with his right hand and gently stroked her face. It was his own little gesture of intimacy that he kept only for her. The mere showing of his arm was a measure of trust, but to actually touch her with it was a gesture of devotion. She was the only one whom he could ever touch gently with this weapon of war. Kyrie's simple acceptance of it, coupled with the small kiss she pressed to the centre of his palm meant that she trusted him implicitly. So much was communicated in such a short space of time by the merest touch. Then he was gone, and she had to hurry back into the medical wing.

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Nero joined his two half brothers on the wall, all three of them looking out over the parapet. Below, the Underworld army once again climbed into a state of readiness. Dante doubted that they'd actually try another assault. Despite the fact that the Devil Hunters on the walls lost more and more with each attack, so did the demon army. And they lost a hell of a lot more than the defenders did. Assaulting a heavily defended position, especially when one has no artillery was never a good idea. Sure Death Scythes and Scissors along with Sins and Mephistoes often tried to come around, but one of the Devil Hunters had managed to scramble up a flamethrower out of lamp oil and a hose. The effect was spot on. Demons had a mortal fear of fire, especially hells and other creatures that were comprised of a flammable material. Scythes, Mephistoes and Fausts, all of who used cloaks of darkness about themselves immediately fled the flames that would burn away their cover and leave them vulnerable. Also, the six mages they had here could also summon fireballs and other powers that would smash any target. Then there was Dante and his shotgun, and Pandora, and Nero's arm, and Lady's submachine guns. Those all had a huge impact on the would be attackers. No demon wanted to try going up against those kind of weapons.

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So Dante wondered exactly why the demons watched them so carefully. Food was not object to either side, as Dante had noted before, the cupboards here never ran out. Demons didn't really need sustenance to survive, so they could maintain a siege for hours. The darkness that they brought with them also happened to be affecting the land around the castle, the earth stained a dark brown and a deadness hung in the air. The overall effect was bleak, but the castle was still living on a prayer it seemed. The air around it was pure and clean, free of any taint and still mild. Only when there was a particularly harsh gust of wind did the smell of the "deadlands" sneak through. For some reason, Dante suspected that this contributed to the demons holding back. If his experience was anything to go by, they should have been upon them like a lightning bolt. Even so, if Mundus wanted to take them, he would have come himself. He threw a quick glance at his twin and was rewarded by a knowing look. Vergil had it figured as well. Mundus intended to keep them there, safely out of the way, nowhere near danger or near the lethal fighting area. He wanted them out of his way.

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"Hail, sons of Sparda." The knight in command was back again. "We once more repeat the glorious offer made by his Supreme Majesty, the Emperor of the Underworld, the godly Mundus. What say you? Will you accept his offer of admittance into his host?"

"Let's see." Dante paused and began counting on his fingers. "We said no the first two times, then we shot at you the next three. We didn't bother answering the last couple, so that leaves us with, what next Vergil?"

"Asking for your surrender." Vergil suggested in an amused tone.

"There you go." Dante spread his arms in a wide gesture and spoke aloud to the whole battalion. "If you will lay down your arms and peacefully depart back to your own realm we will consider it a cessation of hostilities."

"Certainly likes to hear himself talk doesn't he." Muttered Nero to Lady, who giggled.

"He always was one for the loud speeches that's for sure." Trish added.

Down below the Knight shrugged and walked off. Just as he raised his hand for the assault, and the defenders readied themselves, there came an immense roar.

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Out of the road side, threw the rotting trees came a huge articulated lorry. Seventeen Hunters hung onto the outside and fired grenades, bullets, arrows, projectiles and various other implements of destruction at the demons. Instantly there was panic among the battalion as they eagerly sung to tackle the human force. It was worse than when Temen ni Gru had arisen. Shotguns fired, assault rifles clattered and demons fell. But that state of affairs only lasted for a brief few minutes. Dante could see the Knight start to rally his forces and gather them together for an all out assault on the arriving humans. In that moment he made his decision.

"Vergil!"

The blue twin fell into step with him as they headed for the stairs.

"Gather the best close quarters fighters we have, get them together and meet me downstairs."

"A sortie I take it."

"If that's what you call going out there and kicking their asses as fast as we can."

"It is."

"Then a sortie is exactly what we're doing."

Vergil turned to grin at Lady, who had opposed the idea of creating a CQC group. "Looks like I win this one my dear."

Lady glared at him. "Don't ever call me your dear again."

"Regardless, I still won."

Saying nothing, Lady walked past him with her nose in the air. And Vergil found it a little hard to be as smug as he should have felt.

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The demons had oriented on the truck. Where once people being shipped in containers would have led to the deaths of many of them in slavery, now the container proved to be salvation for many of them. The devilish horde couldn't breach the walls of a fast moving vehicle, and the Hunters on the top prevented any of the prospective slaughterers getting a grip on the moving vehicle. Once the thing stopped however, that's when things would get bloody. At present that was not a problem, but sooner or later the demons would stop the truck. Knowing this the Devil Hunters kept up an even harder barrage of fire. Their leader was a guy called Billy, a swordsman. One of the Frosts leaped up at the top and Billy took a quick moment to swing his chainsword. With a smash the tip embedded in the lunging demon and with a wrench the blade roared to life. Greenish white blood sprayed everywhere as the teeth bit deep. A quick yank and the blade came loose again, dragging most of the Frosts intestines with it. But beyond it he could still see more coming. Then he saw a line of Hells vanish. Out of the castle gates came a small party of fighters. Dante lead them, Vergil on his right and Nero on his left. In the party were Trish, Lady, Credo, Abe and six others. All of them carried firearms, except Vergil, and they were pouring a steady stream of lead into the rear of the Devil horde. Immediately demons locked onto them, only to be rammed form the other side by truck. Skidding the truck came to a halt before the gates and the defenders quickly set up a perimeter. Then the demons got in close enough for a battle.

"Keep together, support each other." Vergil commanded the swordsmen. They quickly switched to their bladed weapons, some of which had been drawn from the castle itself.

The Hells closed in. One leaped at Vergil, even as he addressed the men. Without so much as a backward glance, Vergil spun, unsheathing Yamato and sliced the Hell in half. Keeping the spin he turned back to the men and spoke quickly. "Lessers can be lethal, but they're slow. Use speed and precision against them and you will be successful."

"Okay now let's rock!" Dante thundered.

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The battle was short sharp and fierce. Every time it looked like the Devil Hunters were going to fall, the Devil May Cry crowd picked up the slack for them. Dante used all of his tricks, including at one point he used his dreadnaught armour to draw all their attention onto himself before Vergil's rift cut attack broke them off of him. Credo kept the gates open, making sure that no one was left behind and only when the last of the humans was in did he shout out, "That's them all."

"Abe!" Dante shouted over the noise of battle, as he ripped Rebellion out of an Abyss, "Get yourself and the others inside. We'll handle the rest out here."

Abe nodded, ducked under a sweep of a blade and hacked the Hell Pride in half with his axe. Instantly he waved his hand and the rest of the Devil Hunters that Dante had brought with him retreated. All four of them, the other three had been killed by Blades.

"Okay guys let loose."

Five of them devil triggered, and one unslung a bazooka. To say that the Hells halted in their steps is an understatement. The red Devil that was Dante grinned, showing a mouth full of sharp fangs.

"Are you ready to die?" it questioned.

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They all blazed out their firepower, with Trish hurling balls of electricity at them all.

"Keep them away from the gates!" Vergil roared and hurled himself at his targets.

With quick, economic movements he tore through them, using the sheath of Yamato almost as much as the blade. With barely a glance he gracefully flipped, flicking the blade as it tore limb from limb. Beside him Nero snatched another demon and swung it round his head, sending Hells and Scarecrows stumbling away from himself. Even as he did so he started firing with Blue Rose, the bullets coinciding with the summoned swords he began to cast from his arm. With a single swift movement he summoned Modus and began his two armed assault with Red Queen. Trish swung Alastor, the heavy blade ripping through all targets, taking out several demons at once. Raising it high above her head she slammed it down into the ground, allowing a fountain of electricity to pour in a circle around her. Credo's shield sent six demons sprawling as he battered them away before leaping into a twisting slash which ripped up anything in front of him. Lady let her guns do all the talking as she used them to put six rounds into the nearest demons skull. With a whirl Kalina Ann was swept in a circle, causing all the demons to jump back or be sliced. Then she flipped the weapon up over her shoulder and fired. The blast gouged out a huge chunk of their enemies. Dante just stingered. That was all he needed to do. He ripped through any and all opponents, twice, three times, four, it didn't matter. They fell all the same. He leaped and came down in a Helmcleaver that sliced through demons like a hot knife through butter.

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Watching from his perch a little way away, the Knight watched with a hint of concern. His force was being decimated. The Sons of Sparda and their allies were doing too much damage. Raising a hand, he called them back. Shuffling the demon army retreated. Now he had no choice but to continue the siege with what he had. No reinforcements were coming. Angelic forces had been sighted on the march and Mundus himself had gone to oversee the battle he would be engaging in. All the Knight, whose name was Salem, knew what was required of him now. Keep them in. That's all, nothing more, nothing less. Here they would be no threat to his master. If he couldn't get in, then he would make sure they couldn't get out.

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And that is Mundus' plan. Keep the little perishers out of the way. Yes, you are right in that I was inspired by the Dawn of the Dead remake when I wrote this. How can I not be, it's a great film. Anyhoo, for those who wish to see a massive battle with two armies going head on, next chapter is for you. The new arrivals bring news.


	30. Chapter 30

Man I had to do a huge amout of video watching to get an idea of what to write for the battle in this chapter. Hardest bit of research I've ever done. Things will speed up, plotwise, from here on in. This is the beginning of the end of this story.

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**A Report**

"Everyone, clear a path. Stay out of the way."

Gurney's bearing injured fighters and refugees were herded through the hallways of Tartarus. Dante strode through them like a man on a mission. He was headed straight for the medical bay, or rather, what had been termed the medical bay. It was really one of the dining halls, but necessity had demanded that it be turned into a place where blood was stemmed and wounds were staunched and stitched. Dante hated it. It stank of human blood as well as traces of residual demon blood. Here the latest arrivals had been brought. Dante needed to hear from them on the status of the outside world. How many people had they seen leaving the city, how many armies had they seen leaving the city, was the Tower still fully active, was Mundus here yet? All these questions needed answers, and Dante intended to get them. The hall itself was long and wide with plenty of chairs along the sides of the hallway, where numerous people cowered in fear, listening for the sounds of battle. The fight had ceased, only a short while ago, and the demon horde had retreated back out of range of the defenders bullets and other weapons. Sniper rifle fire still worried both sides, but no airbourne attacks had come in recently. Dante rather thought that they were holding back. Certainly his sense of smell had picked up nothing within at least five hundred metres of the wall. He hadn't seen anything either. And any reconnaissance he had sent out had returned with the same verdict. No demons approaching. Now Dante needed to find someone who could tell him if Mundus intended to besiege them, or assault them.

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"Bradley!"

The thin man whipped round, adjusting his glasses as he did so. Aware of no danger, he had not bothered to draw out his power.

"Dante? I thought I saw you in the battle back there."

"Yeah. I was commanding the sortie."

Bradley was not a human, despite his appearance as one. Bradley was a demon, a low level one. Whereas Dante was a Knight class, Bradley would have been a Minor Spellcaster. He was no Beserker, though he would have been called to work with Beserkers quite often in his former life. A Beserker needed a Spellcaster to keep them focused, and hidden from the rest of the world. Bradley had been spared by Dante after he had fallen in love with a mortal girl and abandoned his master, subsequently slain by the Devil Hunter.

"How's Angelina?" Dante moved up to take a look over his shoulder.

"In shock." Bradley pulled the thin blanket they had found for her up over her shoulders. "I had only just managed to get her out of her house before they came. Her father was killed by a Frost. You know what they to to their victims."

Dante nodded. He knew full well.

"She was hit by a couple of Marionette sharpshooter blades. I healed her, but the pain might be enough anyway." His voice was raw and edged with a deep seated grief that the Devil Hunter knew very well. He'd heard it as a child from his father when he and his mother had talked in low tones, he'd heard it from his mother, when she had talked of his father after his death. He'd heard it from Nero, talking about Kyrie. It was pain, pure and simple, the pain of a man who has watched all that he holds dear go on the line, almost be snatched away from him, by an otherworldly menace. And he hated himself for being weaker than others in dealing with it. Dante knew what type of pain he was feeling when he spoke his next words. "She's pregnant Dante."

Pregnant, bearing the child of a lower class demon, the child which, in all normal cases, shouldn't ever exist. For Bradley, this would be something beyond joyful, beyond happiness. It was a dream, a dream which was descending into a nightmare with frightening speed. Few women actually realised how painful pregnancy was for men. It was simply because you couldn't see their emotional responses. But every man wants to be a father at some point in his life, every man wants to see his lover bear his child. The fear, fear of loss, fear of failure as a parent, fear of not having the perfect world ready for the child, that ate at the hearts of every man. One of two events in a man's life that he desires above all others, the day he takes a bride, and the day he holds a newborn. Now for Bradley, both of those things were about to be torn apart. With as quiet a motion as he could, Dante reached out and pressed a hand to Angelina's abdomen. Devil senses alert, he was able to pick out the tiny life signature that was a child, more specifically a boy. Alive and stable. Dante gestured for a couple of the quasi medical staff they had on hand to come over here.

"The boy lives Bradley."

The other demon looked up briefly. "What about Angelina, what about her? She's the one I'm worried about."

"We'll do whatever we can, but if you want to help, you're welcome to do whatever you can."

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Dante left the medical wing, leaving Bradley with a focused and determined look on his face as he set to healing as many as he could. He headed straight to the room they were using as the strategy centre. He needed to know what was happening outside of the castle, and the man who had led the defence of the truck was someone who could probably tell him. His arrival interrupted his older brother who was conferring in low tones with Nero.

"Any news?" the blue clad twin asked.

"None." Dante responded, "We need to speak to the man who was in charge of the Hunters on the truck."

Nero raised an eyebrow. "Bill? The guy with the chainsword?"

Dante nodded.

"He'll be back in a minute anyway." Vergil said. As if on cue the man with the weird weapon walked in the door.

"Dante Sparda?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Bill Gudner. I was in charge of the escape from Capulet."

"What's the situation?"

The city was in ruins. The entire Underworld army was leaving the city and it was doing it still. A column that ran on for dozens of miles was stretching out of the Temen ni Gru. Mundus himself had long since left the city, bound for who knows where, but the vast majority of the army was headed west. There were snatches of rumours on the radio's that the angelic army had arrived, and that the demons were headed to meet them. But that wasn't all. All over the world demonic cults were springing up. Humans were choosing their sides. If the Hands were to be believed then the world was going to end very, very soon. Fortunately, there was some good news. The army had gone west, not north towards Tartarus, meaning that there were not going to be many reinforcements coming to the aid of the horde busily besieging the castle. The three Sparda's shared a look which plainly said that if Mundus knew where they were he'd have an army here in seconds. He was probably looking for them. The Devil Emperor was well known for holding grudges, obviously he'd try to kill them if he got a chance. The three of them knew, to protect the people here, they'd have to leave.

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Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away a huge force of demons came to an abrupt halt. This valley floor was going to be covered in their blood in little more than a few minutes they knew. Above their heads the sky was a mass of roiling dark clouds, teaming and tearing over each other in a prelude to the slaughter which was to take place below. On the other side of the huge field waited the Angelic Host. Arrayed in lines they waited for the demons to attack, once they did so, they'd simply impale them. The sunlight burst through the clouds where they stood, their very stance a message of truth. For a brief while they stood still. Mundus himself was watching this battle. Across the valley the arrayed forces of Order and Protection stood waiting. Primarch Asterius in all his glory had decided to command them himself. While their numbers were limited, they were the better trained force and more organized, their neat ranks a stark contrast to the demonic rabble. Asterius looked across his forces, gathered and ready for the horn to blow, and their spears to start the dance. Angelic Lords and Knights were scattered around the army, assigned to particular divisions, leading regiments. At his word they would begin the battle. Out on the flanks, his gathered Lancers would take the field in a flood if need be, while in the centre waited the staunch footsoldiers, Hoplites and Legionnaires. They would break the demon horde like water on a rock. But even so, Mundus was crafty enough to have a battle plan, plus his army did include some decent soldiers. At that moment his thoughts were interrupted.

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Mundus spoke quickly into the mind of his leading Devil Knight, Dagon.

"_**Begin!**_"

With a savage smirk upon his features Dagon raised his gauntleted fist. At his gesture the horde screamed and began their charge. Thousands of Hells, hundreds of Maironettes, myriads of Scarecrows, all of them charged forwards, moving faster than one would have thought possible for the beings that they were. Above their heads the clouds seemed to rain Sins, Scythes, Mephistoes, Fausts and Fallen, all heading straight for the Host which waited for them. Half a mile separated the two armies, though they crossed it fast enough. Even so, it seemed to them all that the distance had never been greater. Asterius noted the attack strategy and made a gesture. It had been anticipated. From their positions in the forefront of the army, the Legionnaires lifted straight up. Wings unfurling they rose straight up into the sky, layering themselves so that they presented a solid wall to the airborne demons. From behind their former positions stepped Hoplites, their pikes lowering and levelling on the rapidly closing army, behind them the archers raised to fire. The two sides met.

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The first volley of arrows from the ascendeds side cut through the ranks of the attacking demons like a rain of lava, melting through their nemeses'. The demons ran themselves right through the torrent on to the pikes of the Hoplites. Sand cascaded everywhere as they split themselves on Heaven forged steel. Above the Legionnaires met the flying foes blow for blow. Here a demon fell to a swung sword, there a Hell lopped off an angels arm with its scythe. A Hoplite fell as the Marionettes it had been holding off attacked as one. Scarecrows were ripped apart as they attempted to break the shield wall. Archers once again drew bow, angled above their comrades heads and loosed. Elysiums arrows tore the veil of darkness aside as they hammered home, their bullet shaped heads driving through demonic armour like paper. All across the field were the sounds of roars, screams, cries of pain, anger, rage. Angels never falter, they drove their enemy back. As the flying attackers retreated, the Fallen were spared no mercy. Traitors all, they gave no quarter and asked for none as the Legionnaires cut them down. The second the skies were clear of the aerial demons, the Legionnaires focused on the ground. At Asterius' signal, the entire force of them swooped down. The horde barely had time to look up and wail before the legionnaires were upon them. At the same time the Hoplites began to advance. One rank would stab, then the one behind it would advance quickly forward into the fresh space. Slowly but surely the demons retreated.

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But this was all just the precursory attacks. With a commanding skill that was all but unmatched, Mundus motioned his artillery into place. Fireballs began to rain down on the battle, exploding and sending the peons flying. At the same time the second wave attacked. Led by Blades and Assaults, the second wave was far more skilled and dangerous than the first one. Screeching with unrestrained battle lust the entire wave built on the destruction that been wrecked by the artillery fire and smashed into the disorientated lines. Overhead, the lack of airbourne defences allowed the demons access, and they sowed confusion amongst the ranks, causing utter anarchy. At the same time Mundus ordered his Basilisks into battle. Streaking through the chaos they added to it, as missiles from their necks exploded among the harried army. Chaos seemed to reign.

Then Asterius gave the order. Elites of the Overworld, Honours, Powers and Glories all readied their weapons and charged into the fray. With a speed and skill that showed no signs of stopping they ripped into the enemy, a veritable whirlwind of power and speed. At the same time Lancers curved around the flanks and closed. Order was gone, only the melee remained.

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Further attempts to describe the battle fail. It was beyond the clash of destiny, it was the battle for the entire fate of existence as any knew. By the end of the day both rulers drew back their forces, to lick their wounds and plan for the next battle. It was then that both made the decision that drew them closer to the end of time. Both summoned their human subjects to the front.

* * *

There you go. Sorry for the delay, but I've been having a manic time in work lately. Which is going to continue for the foreseeable future. And I've a repeat exam to do as well. Life sucks.


	31. Chapter 31

And we're back again. For myself I've finally gotten a hold of the plot and have dragged it firmly back under my control. And we enter the latter stages of the story. Things are going to get going from here. This is where it all begins. To reply to my reviews, Twilight Sagamaniac; it means that by calling up their human subjects they've secured the end of the world by dividing it. Satanic Parl of Madness; Just root for the gang, it's the best believe me. Devil Rebel; thatnks for the support. My repeats are over.

* * *

**A Decision**

Dante sat on the edge of the balcony and thought. It would have knocked Vergil out to know that Dante did actually think about his actions. But it wasn't for nothing that Sparda had taught both his sons how to choose their battles and right now Dante needed to know if he was fighting the right battle. The castle was besieged, with no hope of getting out in a large group, but the enemy had little hope of getting in. Ammunition was dwindling, but the castle was being stripped of all lead available, of which there was a surprising amount. In addition a few of the alchemists in Tartarus had begun to make cordite and they were slowly starting to get a hold on the ammo situation. Even so, the larger minigun was running dangerously low. They had only a rough five thousand rounds for the weapon, enough for a short battle provided they were careful. Dante had banned its use unless the demons attacked in force. Food was in good condition, the only thing in the whole mess that was. They were getting more volunteers for the walls, but they were nowhere near as good as the Devil Hunters were. At this point in the defense, the Devil May Cry crew were having to act as the general staff, while the Devil Hunters were rapidly becoming sergeants in their little army. With the recently arrived additions the defenders numbered one hundred and two, but one battle could see that drop by twenty. It would be more, but the hybrids managed to keep them from becoming bloodbaths. All in all, he needed to find a new tactic.

------------------------------------------

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Trish had entered their room, unnoticed by him, and crossed over to where he was sitting, at the moment just hovering inside the curtains that shielded the balcony. The balcony itself was a strange mix of defences and comforts, with wooden doors on the inside of the opening, but pulled back to allow easy access. The parapet had no slats, solid stone all the way through, and was almost a foot thick. Dante gestured for the demoness to join him.

"I'm planning on leaving here."

"What do you need me to do."  
Dante had already planned his response of 'I can't let you come because', but he was forced to quickly rewind and restart in the face of her blunt acceptance. "What?"

Trish grinned half-heartedly. "You said you planned to leave. I assume you have a plan because you've been up here for more than two hours. You never take that long for anything trivial, or even quite a few serious issues, so whatever it is, you have a reason."

Dante gave her his usual cocky smirk and began to explain his reasoning. "We are trapped here, regardless of whether or not we like it. At the moment Mundus is unaware of our threat. I plan to keep it that way. In his eyes, this is a group of humans putting up a stubborn defence, something that does not really require his attention. The second he learns that we, Vergil, Nero and me, are here, he'll come crashing down on us in full force. That's why we three have to leave."

Trish nodded, following his line of reasoning.

"We'll strike out, go undercover and keep out of sight. At the same time we'll attack here and there, cause a wave of destruction and devastation as we hit every major demon patrol we come across. This'll draw their attention."

"And where will you be drawing them?"

"Away from here, if at all possible. Presumably from the front as well."

"I see. Credo told you then, of the call on all angels to report to the front."

Dante grinned again. It was piece of information that came in real handy. "Yep. Also, that tells me what Mundus is doing right now. He's leading his little war on. That means he does not intend to come back for some time. Perfect."

The perfect face, so seemingly reminiscent of his mothers, yet so different it was uncanny, marred in a frown. "There's something you're not telling me."

Dante got up and looked over at the tree line where he knew that several demon sentries were keeping watch. "I'm going to get the Sparda." He said bluntly.

Trish jumped up from behind him. "What?" she demanded.

"I need to shut down the Temen ni Gru."

"You're insane."

"That's why you love me I guess."

She exhaled irritably. "There's no stopping you I take it."

"None at all."

"Then I guess I have no say in the matter."

"Not over whether I go or not, but if you are angry with me, then it'll put a dampener on the whole escapade."

Trish chuckled at that, his sometime boyish humour showing through as he charmingly told her he was going into the fires of hell itself to rob the Devil Emperor and bring back a piece of metal that kept the doorway open. There was no other man in the world who could possibly do such a thing.

"How long will you be gone for?" she asked him pointedly.

Dante looked her straight in the eye, and the look he was giving her smouldered. "For a very long time. We leave early in the morning."

"Then we'd best get started."

------------------------------

Vergil slowly ran his hand down the long blade of Yamato. He had seen to the defenders of the wall because his brother was pleasantly occupied doing "things that ought not to be thought of" with the woman who looked like their mother. Either Dante had one hell of an Oedipus complex, or he saw something in her which differentiated her enough for him. Which was probably the truth, he had to admit to himself. Certainly it had led to enough fistfights between the two after Vergil had awakened to find her there. Dante defended her enough to show that it was more than just a shallow fling, which was somewhat comforting, and equally humiliating. Vergil, the Dark Slayer, just as his brother was the Dark Knight, did not consider himself a romantic. He had no need of any mate in life, at least, not yet, but at times it was lonely. Especially now that his twin, and the younger sibling, were both off with females. It meant he ended up spending more time with the human woman Lady. An odd case, most definitely. Firey, occasionally loud, eager to fight and a horror in battle she was a walking mass of complexes. Yet she had surprising depths, and it was these that enable him to converse with her in a somewhat equal fashion. For example their discussions of weaponry were intriguing, especially since she thought that guns were better than swords for close quarters actions, though he had managed to get her to admit that a dagger was better when push came to shove. She also played chess with an admirable amount of skill, though he would always value Dante as a better draughts player. His few dealings with Nero had shown him that the third Sparda blood was a halfway decent Risk player, a fact which alluded to a considerable amount to administrative and tactical knowledge. In fact, Vergil shocked even himself with the new friends and family he had, and the extent to which he had integrated himself with them.

----------------------------------------------

"Vergil?"

Lady, she was here? This was a new development to him. He hadn't registered her approach, but then again, he'd become used to her in the past few weeks.

"Lady."

"What are you doing up here."  
"I've just been discussing the defences with the officers here."  
"So Nero was telling the truth then."

Damn him, this was supposed to be covert. Didn't the younger know the meaning of the word subtlety? Apparently not. Vergil's eyes narrowed, Nero was getting a thrashing in the morning.

"Don't glower at me like that! Besides, Nero was right to tell me. I want to know."

Vergil eyed her, dropping the glare to his usual stony façade. "Tell you what?"

Bi-coloured eyes narrowed and Lady put her hands on her hips, a gesture which reminded him she was highly annoyed, but not at him for some reason. "Don't give me that innocence bull! I want to know why you are leaving."

Lady was someone who could be trusted, she hated all demons with a passion, hated Devils even more as her own father had destroyed their family to try and make himself one, and she would never surrender. If anyone could be trusted with this information, he felt it was her. Beckoning her over to sit with him he began.

"Dante plans to leave here and begin a guerrilla campaign over the area between here and Capulet's ruins. Hopefully this will draw out Mundus forces in the wrong direction. Once we have gotten them well and truly occupied with hunting us, we will go to the Temen ni Gru and retrieve the Sparda sword."

There was silence between the two for a moment. "That's it?" asked Lady.

"Exactly like I told you. It may take a little more time than you realise but…"

"Then why can't I come with you guys?"

So that's what this was all about. Vergil smirked. "I see. So you want to come with me and go on a campaign against Mundus. In doing so you reckon you will redeem yourself for the various failures you feel you have made by allowing it to get this far."

A blush started on her neck and rose up her cream coloured throat to coat her cheeks in pink. It was a stark contrast to her midnight black hair and her white clothing. Suddenly Vergil became aware of how close their heads were, of how much of a tete-a-tete they were actually having. Quickly he sat back and stated plainly the reasons they could not afford to let her come with them.

"You haven't the stamina for a long trek, certainly not one where we will have little food and less water. Any injuries you would sustain would hold you back, not majorly but enough so that we might get caught. Your weapons are bulky and, while not encumbering you for short encounters such as the Tower, would slow you down enough to be a drag on us."

The look on her face made him regret it immediately. It was mix of anger and sadness. What amazed him more was that he was beginning to formulate a response to try and soothe her. He had few friends, he didn't want to lose the few he had, even if he was leaving the next day. If he died it would not just be Dante mourning him this time.

"You serve a better role here. You keep everyone on their toes and you are invaluable to the defence. I would not risk the lives of those here just to serve my own needs, so I must ask the same of you. Put the needs of other before your own."

Wordlessly she got up, nodded, and left. Which only served to confuse the blue twin more. But despite the urging he was getting from his newly born conscience, he made no move to follow her.

--------------------------------------------------------

Nero stood still, just holding Kyrie close to him. It was one of the rare moments they could get, as she was busy in the infirmary and he was busy on the walls. He held her, aware that she had blood on her apron, aware that he was still covered in sweat after lifting that rock out of the gardens so it could be used as a weapon at the gatehouse in the next attack. None of it mattered because despite the blood and the sweat and the grime, he could still smell her sweet smell, a faint ginger and nutmeg and flowers, and he could still feel her heartbeat pulsing in the rhythm of her breathing, and he could still hold her and know they were both alive. Even so, they weren't exactly private. They were standing in an alcove, out of the main hallway where the few children that were awake at this time of night were scurrying around under the feet of their bedraggled parents. But it was what they could get in the anarchy. Nero had informed both Lady and Lucia of the plans for the next morning, while they both agreed that it was sound tactical advice, it still didn't take the pain away for the two young lovers. Only in the agape sense of course. Kyrie wanted to be a virgin bride, and Nero was not entirely opposed to the idea. Of course Credo and his big ass sword were going to make sure of it. The funny thing was it wasn't even necessary. Nero was more than willing to let Kyrie have her dreams, because she was his dream. If anyone said the phrase "dream-girl" to him he automatically thought of Kyrie. She was his future, she was his whole world. And he needed to hold her to remind himself for the long days ahead when he would have to put up with his older brothers and their constant jibes. Not to mention that he wouldn't see her for who knew how long. So she had taken the evening off, and he had gotten Vergil to take his watch and the two of them had their little space just for one another.

------------------------------------

"Promise me you'll come back."

"I swear to you by my life that I will. Besides the other two won't let me die." When she looked up at him he continued, "They need someone to bug for the rest of their lives."

Kyrie laughed, her voice like silver bells ringing in the still air of a cool morning. "Don't let them get to you."

"I'll do my best."

"They'd better. Or else Dante will owe me a new boyfriend."

"Not the best thing to say to him."

"Vergil then."

"Equally unwise."

She laughed again, then fell silent. "I'll miss you."

"I know."

"Promise me you'll come back."

"I can't lose you. I'll come back if I have to crawl through the gates. But you've got to promise me something."

"What?"

Nero, cupped her face in his right hand. "When I get back, we set the date. I want to be able to introduce you as my wife when we next have to save the world."

She covered the scaled back of his hand with her own, dwarfed as it was by the massive limb, and answered. "Okay."

* * *

Next Chapter, the three strike out on their own. And the final pieces of the story come into fruition.


	32. Chapter 32

Before I get my ass handed to me for not updating in so long, let me explain. There are three reasons why I haven't update in so long. 1 I got Dissidia Final Fantasy! Game of the Year in my opinion, and I wrote a 27 something thousand word chapter for my latest fic, Dissidia Academy. It's a problem of having more than thirty main characters, ten is so much easier to follow. 2 I got Supernatural on DVD. Expect me to write something borrowing elements from the series in the DMC category at some stage in the future. The show is possibly the best one on TV I've seen in ages that's not a comedy. 3 I'm back in college and I need to get a 1st Class Honours law degree to be assured of getting a place in the Kings Inns due to the economic climate. As such I've been treating this year with a lot more seriousness. There you have it. As I've said before, events are now in motion that will lead to the end of the world... oops.

**

* * *

**

**An Ambush**

The demon patrol slunk through the heavy underbrush, their scythes and claws readied. For the past week they had been in operation, searching. Before that, an entire regiment of Scarecrows had been wiped out in a lightning attack, occurring a few miles away, but despite torching the entire area, nothing had turned up and every single patrol nearby had vanished. Since, generally, a patrol numbered around twenty demons, this hunting patrol numbered in the region of sixty. They were seeking whatever was killing their kind. But it was not to be their day. You see, as they were combing the underbrush of this forested area, they were unaware of the sets of eyes watching them. Sixty demons were hardly considered a threat to them, these hunters. Unawares of the danger the hunting party were becoming the hunted themselves. The first one to go, a Hell Pride, barely even noticed the rustle in the tree above it before a hand reached down, grabbed its head and crushed it into dust. A Scarecrow heard a twig snap behind it, and turned. Nothing. Turning back, a sword came out of nowhere and sliced through its head. Down with naught but a whisper. A Lust, suddenly suspicious, signalled another comrade over. Hissing the demon moved over. Some form of communication happened, though none save demons could understand it. The Lust threw a quick glance around itself after a quiet noise. There was nothing there, and even the demons predator senses couldn't detect anything. Behind it, the other Lust went down with a single summoned blade between the eyes. A shadow seemed to move in and amongst the trees and it drew investigation in the form of a couple of Sloths. With their teleportation method of moving they hoped to surprise the hidden sniper, but there was nothing. All of them vanished before they could meet back up with the main group.

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By this stage the demons were starting to group together. Any stragglers were cleaved in two. One Hell, which ventured out of the cluster, had a red sword penetrate its torso. For a brief moment it stood there, growling in pain before the blade detonated in a small explosion of energy. Missing most of its upper body the demon twitched, then fell over and dissolved. Three more blades, blue this time, shot out of the foliage from an unknown snipers position, before embedding themselves in the ground, just shy of the clustered demons. The group were hissing vehemently, the groans of the Hells emphasizing their mix of fear and rage. A charge should be sufficient for them to break the attack, to get closer to the sniper. Whoever it was, they were good. Demons tended to panic when fighting guerrillas the best way for human forces to oppose them, although the demons had much better hunting sense than humans did. Ambushes, quick and fast were the best. Staring ahead of them they sensed human. A human mage perhaps, someone with the skills to summon magical swords at the very least. It was his end game anyway. There were enough of them to swarm his position and deal death in spades.

"Howdy, morons!"

What happened next was all but a blur of steel and lead and pure undiluted skill. Most of the demons never got a chance to move before the giant semi-powered sword that the fighter carried ripped through their innards and dragged them down. Unfortunately for the hunting demons, they'd been so absorbed in looking for a human trace, they hadn't really noticed when a couple of new devil traces came into the area. How were they to know that hybrids could alter their scent at will.

-----------------------------------------

"This is pretty pathetic." Nero was busily cleaning the sand of Red Queen and making sure that the exhaust ports were free of blockages after his massacre of the Hells. "How long have we been out here just cutting through everything we've met and this is still the hardest opposition that we've faced? Mundus is stupider than I thought." He stopped cleaning with the rag he ripped off one of the discarded cloaks and pointed the huge bladed weapon at his red clad accomplice. "Either that or he still doesn't think we're a threat."

Dante shrugged. "Doesn't matter whether he knows it's us or not. That's not what we're doing. We're drawing off his forces and causing havoc. That's enough. This one was three times larger than the normal patrols so we're doing something right, right?"

Vergil muttered something and Dante whirled to face him. "Hey Verge?"

"What?"

"Why'd you miss those last ones?"

Vergil chuckled darkly. "I didn't. I was pushing them towards Nero."

Dante gave him a funny look and Nero sniggered at him. Then he sobered up and stood, clipping the blade across his back once more.

"Right. We still have a Hellgate to close."

"Yes we do. How far is it into the city Verge?"

"Roughly fifteen miles, then another eight to the tower. I'm assuming that Mundus will stay wrapped up in his campaign, so we should be able to make the journey in relative comfort. Down!"

The last word was said in a voice that demanded response and in the quietest fashion possible. The other two dropped and dragged themselves under the bushes. Willing their bodies into complete stillness and with leaving no scents or other traces of either their devil halves or their human halves, they hid and watched the sky.

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As predicted the air grew dark and heavy. The sound of rushing winds grew, slowly at first, but then becoming louder and louder. Overhead the sky turned black with thousands of flying demons. Sins, Deaths, Mephistoes, Fausts, all of them headed the same way. Amongst them could be seen the reddish tints that signified Blood-goyles and pinpricks of white that outlined Fallen, most of them in leading positions. Fallen were loyal officers, since disloyalty meant a quick and rapid death at the hands of their troops, alternatively a less quick and much more vengeful death at the hands of their once comrades, any angels they happened to meet. Between them, there were almost a million of them, all moving in the same direction like a macabre flock of swallows heading south for the winter. Except that these things brought the winter. Hellspawn always did. Their feet turned the ground they trod upon a sickly brown the colour of fresh vomit, and the air tasted rank with their presence. Suddenly, they were gone, and the air seemed to lighten as new sunlight came back down. For the three men, all of whom had been through some form of hell, it was not something amazing, but any other person would have been saying their final prayers and hoping that the Gods had mercy on their soul.

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"That's the fourth flock I've seen in as many days," Vergil commented, "and their getting bigger. Whatever stalemate there seems to be going on, we live in hope that Mundus doesn't break it."

Nero shrugged as Dante began walking in the direction of the city, already running through various ways to infiltrate an enemy occupied stronghold, mostly finding the weakest point and blasting through it, and as they walked he muttered. "It doesn't matter if he breaks it. The angels will just regroup, organize and turn the tables. You think they don't have their own swarms of Legionnaires flying across the land, turning the air into pink rainbows and fuzzy animals?"

"Don't get uppity with me boy."

Nero threw the older twin a glare, but whatever he was about to snap out in a retort died in his throat as Dante broke in. "Hey lovebirds, how about we go through Verdant. I want to see if that information broker, whatshername, knows anything else about this invasion."

"What makes you think she's still alive?"

"Every church has its guardians doesn't it? And demons hate crossing hallowed thresholds. Priest can expel them."

With a glance at one another the two dressed in blue gave their assent.

Dante grinned and checked his pistols. "Alright, Verdant first it is."

* * *

And I apologise for the shortness of this chapter as well, I had a bit of block getting around to writing it. I wasn't sure whether I initially wanted it to be them breaking out, but the way it went led to me making it about them conducting an ambush, I saw the Patriot recently too. Anywhoo, this is what I produced. Next chapter should be better, but what can we do.


	33. Chapter 33

It has been a really long time! I wrote this over the course of a couple of weeks I'm afraid, but it's still not that long. The usual length. Good news, exams are nearly done, bad news, I'm going through a really weird phase of apathy at the moment and it's making it hard to come up with new stuff. However, this chapter speeds up the plot a lot. We're now into the final stages folks. Been a while though hasn't it. Enjoy. To reply to reviews, Thanks SPoM, it's nice to have your support, in spite of my flitting in and out on the site. To Shinkugetsu, It's some of Vergils blood that creates the Devil Bringer through mutation of a once human limb. Once Vergil took back Yamato, it took the avatar with it. Now Nero can use any Devil Arm and he'll get that Avatar, similar to Dante's changing Devil Trigger every time he gets a new weapon.

* * *

**An Incursion Gone Wrong**

The city looked absolutely nothing like it had. Where once had been a proud, majestic cityscape was now a decrepit ruin. Buildings were toppled and razed; streets were misshapen lumps of tar and concrete, spilled in a disorderly fashion like shards of ice exposing the corrupted earth beneath them. Here and there several fires burned with a vengeance, mostly from the wrecks of automobiles and former homes. Patches of blood adorned the walls still standing. Even the air itself was heavy, foul and oppressive, with a texture like rotten cloth, as invasive as sand and twice as irritating. Behind Dante, Vergil surreptitiously tried to brush the air off his coat. Nero smirked, Vergil's coat had long since gotten tattered and dirty, despite his best efforts to the contrary. They had been on the move for the last five weeks, constantly changing positions and tactics, striking from the shadows and fading back just as quickly. The effect this had had was unmistakeable. Patrols had doubled in size, garrisons were on the lookout, commanding officers were more up to speed and constant air sweeps had been carried out. They had had six or seven really close calls and had twice been forced to withdraw from the battle or face death. None of them could afford to get either caught or killed, too much was at stake. In terms of tactical success, their mission had been executed wonderfully. An entire army of demons had been diverted to deal with them, nothing had been sent to Tartarus in at least three weeks and any of the others that had been headed that way had been sent back to handle the guerrillas. But that didn't mean that it had been easy. The three had operated inside a one hundred square mile area, meaning that several times they had had to run through the night, covering huge distances before battling a battalion of demonic troops. Food had to be scavenged from ruined buildings and storehouses. It was something to be thankful for that country people still had storehouses for their winter stocks. But, as per their usual luck, those kinds of hoards had been few and far between. Demons made very good destroyers. Water had been slightly easier to come by, though finding clean water had been much harder. In the end the Sons of Sparda had had to make do with what they had, which wasn't much to begin with. But that still didn't explain what exactly had happened to Verdant.

******

When they had arrived in the village, it had been deserted. Obviously the demons had come through here, levelling almost everything in their path. From the mutilated bodies sporadically lying in various places, it had been clear that the village had had a modicum of an early warning. A couple of bodies lying near the church walls had indicated the work of demonic snipers, catching stragglers as they had run. It was part of the consecration of a church, that it was made hallowed ground. Anything demonic couldn't enter hallowed ground. Some buildings included the restrictions for angels as well, seeing as how that made a certain loophole in the law. Buildings like that were designed as sanctuaries, meant for people's protection. The Verdant church had been empty, the people long since gone. However, the three had encountered someone inside. A priest had remained behind, delusional and screaming about how he saw what had befallen the congregation.

"They came alive." He'd said, pointing to the statues of the guardians. Each church building had them, none of them humanoid. Griffons, centaurs, various other fabled monsters that none had ever seen in life. None of them showed up as demons either, although the twins well remembered Gryffon. But what had surprised them had been what the priest had added to that statement. "And it led them."

"It?"

"The being made of light. It led the Guardians in battle. None of the demons survived. Some of the villagers had sided with them, they were slain too. The congregation fled, but I was convinced that the being was one of the Gods. I was wrong." He had dissolved into hysterical sobs. "The end is nigh!" he'd screamed at the trio despite their best attempts to get any further information.

Further searching of the area had yielded nothing else. The entire village, despite being in the direct path of the demon advance, was empty. There was a storehouse underneath one of the buildings, reachable by use of a secret passageway from the church. And of most import was the fact that Liv's office was bare. She'd gone and taken her books with her. The priest hadn't mentioned where she'd gone, but it had been difficult to get a clear sentence out of him, let alone someone's whereabouts. Further search also indicated that she'd taken her pistols as well, the case abandoned.

******

Now Dante, Vergil and Nero had other things to worry about. At present they were moving quickly through the warehouse district, wary of patrols and equally wary of ambush. It wasn't too hard to imagine that their movements had been tracked and they were walking into an ambush. Mundus may have been at the front, but he wasn't the only skilled leader that the army had. Fortunately they had encountered nothing yet. Ducking down a side street, the group slipped into a porch and Dante motioned for the other two to remain hidden. When he started to slink his way down the street, super spy style, the other two rolled their eyes surreptitiously. Upon reaching the corner he gestured. Quickly, the other two stealthily hurried over, using cover and making as little noise as possible. Slipping around the trash cans that they were using as cover, the three hurried down the exposed street. However, it was at that exact point in time that a patrol walked across the street junction ahead. With no time, the three men dived into the nearest warehouse. Dante was the last and as he went in, his shoulder caught on a chain. The sound rang in the silence and Dante flicnhed before he threw a careful look down the alley around the corner of the wall. Two of the Hell Lusts had noticed it. The patrol halted and three demons were sent over. Already in the room properly, Vergil and Nero were safely hidden, but Dante had a split second to act. He jumped up and caught a rafter, shadowed and hidden by the remains of the roof. Hooking his legs up over it, he waited. A low moan of anguish preceded the two Lusts, who were obviously not too happy about being forced to go after intruders. Nevertheless, eyes wary, they looked around. Nero and Vergil were invisible, but Dante was exposed where he was. The two Lusts poked around in a couple of corners. Hidden behind one of the crates, Vergil laid his hand silently on the hilt of Yamato. One single rift cut would be sufficient to reduce these to ash, but the patrol would raise the alarm. Above them, sweat was trickling down into Dante's gloved hands. His grip was slipping. In a moment his hands would lose the rafter he'd been gripping and create noise. So he let go before he had a chance to slip. Now he hung, precariously awaiting the fall that would send him right down into the maws of the waiting demons. The Lusts poked at a few boxes, their senses obviously searching for something out of the ordinary, while above them Dante's legs started to feel the strain of keeping still and supporting his weight. Worse the rafter would, in all probability, start to creak as the added weight caused it to sink a little more. Once that happened, it was curtains. The air, thick with the stench of demons and Devils, was enough to hide the half breeds, due to their mixed output, their human scent remained too low to be actually picked out of the background. As a result of relying on scent to sniff out humans, so to speak, the demons had neglected to use their other senses.

Bugger that, thought Dante to himself, all it takes is for me to make too big a noise and they'll catch on. They might be stupid, but they're not that stupid.

Slowly the demons turned. Casting furtive glares around them, they stalked back towards the entrance. Dante could feel the pressure building in his lower back as he kept himself hoisted up at the waist. Any lower and he'd be caught. Agonizingly slow, the three Lusts left the building.

******

After waiting for a short time after the Hells had left, Vergil rose from his hiding place.

"That was close."

"You're telling me." Nero shrugged off a couple of timbers that he had accumulated and rolled his shoulder. "Any closer and we could very well have had the entire demon army down on our heads."

Dante dropped from the roof with a grunt. "Well, we could have taken them."

His twin raised a single silver eyebrow. "I'd rather not broadcast our location if it's all the same to you."

"Like it or not V, we're still going to have to fight them at some point."

"Later rather than sooner, and as few as possible."

"Regardless of how soon we do fight," Nero moved over to the door and threw his gaze down the street, "we are still going to have to face this Mundus."

"We?"

"Last time I checked it was our mother that was murdered, kid."

"You think that matters to him?"

******

There was silence. As little as they wanted to admit it, the twins knew Nero had a point. Mundus would kill anyone and anything to get the last traces of Sparda out of the world. Every day they were alive was an anathema to him, every breath they took was another day he had to wait to kill them. Sooner or later, Mundus was going to find them. More likely that was going to occur the moment they came across a powerful devil, one who could smell their blood and recognise the scent. Once that happened, they were done. One would draw many, several would draw a hoard, any more than that and it was quite possible that they'd have Mundus' attention right down on their heads. That could be both good and very bad at the same time. His diversion from the front would undoubtedly be exploited, bringing the whole wrath of the Heavens down on his head. But at the same time, it was even more likely that this would lead to Mundus killing them all before they even had a chance to act upon the plan of closing the Temen ni Gru.

******

"We need a better plan too, V." Vergil raised his head at his brother's comment.

"And what do you suggest we do? Take on the whole demon army?"

Dante grinned. "Not a bad idea, but not good either. We'd still have no hope."

"How much farther is it to the tower?"

Vergil looked at the youngest Spardablood. "The main problem is that the sword won't be in the tower. Mundus will have moved it to the Underworld through it. Getting into the tower isn't the problem, the problem is doing it without them closing the portal."

"But that would disrupt the flow of troops, wouldn't it." Nero pointed out.

Dante answered him, from where he was looking out through a hole in the wall at the foreboding structure in the distance. "It would, but that's be nothing. They could reopen it at any time they so wished. Unleash Hell over and over. The point is they could lock us out."

Nero shrugged. "They could also lock themselves in, what's the downside."

The twins threw him furious glares. "We'd lose the sword, that's what." Dante snarled. "That sword is the whole key to this entire fiasco. It allows us to shut the gates permanently and..."

"Hold on!" Nero stopped him with a raised hand. "I've got an idea. Listen..."

As Nero explained, Dante's expression changed from a frown to a grin and even Vergil smiled maliciously.

******

It was of course at that point that things began to go wrong. There was a loud scream, a female scream, a human female scream. Dante acted without thinking, taking off in the direction of the sound. Vergil cursed, quickly and succinctly, and followed, Nero swore at length and gave chase. Dante rounded a corner and quickly found a knight punching the hell out of a human woman. The hybrid swung quickly, but the knight was faster. Spinning out of reach, the knight grunted and raised his sword to the level of Dante's face.

"You're a fool to try and face me, human filth. This wench is mine. You will not dare interfere in-"

His words cut off as Vergil took off the top of his head with Yamato. Purple ichor sprayed briefly before the body collapsed and Vergil cleaned off the blade with one quick flick.

"Foolishness, Dante, that was absolute foolishness!"

"What, she was in trouble, we had to help."

"If he'd sounded the alarm, we would all be dead." Nero added.

"If I hadn't, she'd be dead. Look guys we saved a human life, we deserve a little credit for it." Dante turned to the woman. "Hey, you're safe, we got you."

The woman's eyes turned red as she looked up at him. "No, I've got you."

Vergil moved like lightning and clove her head in two, but it was too late. Splitting into a thousand rippling strands the devil grew bigger and bigger until she stood over them all. Dozens of tendrils wrapped up the three Hybrids and held them tight.

*****

"Sammael, darling, I caught them all."

Sammael the Hellhound calmly walked out of the rubble. "Excellent, dear Rifel, a pity about the loss of Ul, but we'll survive I'm sure. And what's more," he stopped and put one massive clawed forearm on the nearest head, that of Dante, "I'm certain that our Master will be happy to see the complete set in our grip."

Dante began to struggle and all the devils could feel him drawing in the power to trigger but Sammael cut him off with a "Don't bother."

Forty Knights and Generals appeared out of the ruins surrounding them, drawn in by the call that the right hand of Mundus had put out. They were bound to come to the call as soon as it was made and they had done so quickly.

"You wouldn't get five yards before they cut you down." Rifel added for Dante's benefit.

Dante rolled his eyes. Rifel was powerful, but dim and a little ditzy. Perfect for someone like Sammael to use as a tool. Well, they were well and truly captured now. Twisting around in the upside down grip that Rifel held him in to face the other two, Dante gave a quick wink. Right according to plan.

* * *

Oho, it would seem that there is more going on than was originally thought. Dante obviously has something up his sleeve. A couple of notes. Rifel is a misspelling of Riful, one of the principal antagonists from the manga/anime series Claymore, which I recently became a big fan of. I don't own it either, Norihiro Yagi does. And as for the name of the Devil Knight, Ul, that Vergil decapitated, well that comes from the LOTR by JRR Tolkien. Fans should know what the name means. Until next time. REPOST, due to problems with spacing and the like. I hope this satisfies sufficiently. Plus I've added a little bit more in. I was never really happy with that scene in the ruin before.


	34. Chapter 34

I've been away for a while. I do apologise. I need to get back into regular updates. Anyways. Obviously Mundus'll want the heroes in a sorry state before he decides to get into his whole "I'm gonna rule the world!" monlogue. So this is what happens.

**

* * *

**

**A Visit to Hell**

The filth of the Underworld was shoved in Dante's face as he was dragged face down through the Demon Realm. It's hard to describe what the ground actually was or felt like, but it was like crusty, liquid curds, with solid masses beneath them of Gods only knew what. Dragged by one leg, his hands bound behind his back and a stolid escort of twenty Knights and Berserkers, the denizens of the Underworld were being more than careful of their renegades. Every now and then a razor sharp solid piece of matter would slice through Dante's jaw, the pollutants in the liquids driving it into further irritation and pain. Not enough to cause him to seriously feel it, but enough to feel like a constant itch that ate at his sanity and at his resolve. Then they stopped.

"Finally!" the Dark Knight exclaimed, "I don't know about you, but if I never eat that stuff again it'll be too soon."

One gauntlet grabbed the nape of his neck and yanked him upright. Slamming him up against a pillar it let go, before the Knight rammed his fist into the hybrids stomach. Pain lanced through Dante, enough to make him reel over and nearly gag with the force of it.

"You will shut the hell up unless spoken to half-breed."

The Knight was all sneer and power tripping grin. A grin he quickly lost when Dante head butted him in the face. Purple blood streaming, the Knight staggered back with a muffled curse and then lunged forward to punch at Dante. He just leaned to one side, let the fist pass him and then kneed the Knight in the groin. Devils had enough of an anatomy to know that kind of pain all too clearly. Any further fracas, however, was quickly halted by the arrival of the Hellhound.

**********

"Enough."

Sammael strode through the group like he owned the place, which he did in a sense. When he reached the writhing knight he stopped.

"Get up Judicar. I've no use for a creature like you in my forces unless you know how to behave."

Judicar muttered several demonic curses under his breath before he staggered to his feet and walked off.

"Pay attention all of you. These creatures are our enemies. Do not underestimate them in any way possible. Do so and you will die. Bear in mind this one here has killed so many of our brethren as to be considered the number one enemy of our people. The other two with him are no exception." He walked around the other prisoners, carefully considering both of them.

"One," he paused by Vergil, "a traitor to his own kind after we so kindly received him." He smashed a claw into Vergil's side, breaking the skin and audibly several bones, though the blue clad slayer never uttered a sound.

"The other," he looked at Nero, "one of our newest foes and a veritable threat in his own right." He placed a giant paw on Nero's bound knee and crushed it. Nero grunted with pain, but made no other sound. Silently he glared up at the Hellhound.

"Hey!" Dante roared at the demon lord, "get away from my brothers you sorry sack of sh-!"

One tentacle whipped around faster than the eye could see and slammed into the Devil Hunters face, whalloping it to the side with a force which would have broken anyone else's neck.

"Shut up. I'm not talking about you Dark Knight." Sammael smiled. "His Highness is returning from the front as we speak. He is most anxious to speak with you. No doubt you will enjoy his company soon enough."

"Oh that's good. I'll enjoy kicking his ass once more."

Sammael laughed. "I wish you could little hunter, but the truth is that we have already prepared accommodation for you. Please, this way."

**************

In the clutches of two devils each, the three half breeds were brought into another section of the Underworld. How deep in they were was anyone's guess. Physics here were not what they were elsewhere, reality was much more malleable. It was dank dungeon filthy, more unwholesome than the realm above where they had been waiting previously. This was something else too, the entire place stank of blood. For good reason. Vergil paled slightly when he recognised the figure standing in the room.

"Azazel!"

The Grand High Torturer of the Dark Emperor stood there, his multiple arms lined with blades and barbs and syringes filled with poisons and serums. His hide was rubbery, yet still stained with the blood, urine and bodily fluids of his previous victims. It was said of him that his record for breaking someone was thirty seconds, and his longest recorded was four hundred years of keeping a victim alive.

"Hellhound. More subjects for me to take care of, I take it. Interesting. I assume Mundus wants me to keep them sane for a while at least."

"Correct." Sammael had the three of them lined up. "Be wary Azazel, these are Sparda's spawn."

"Really." Azazel turned to the three of them. "Then this is a happy reunion children. Sparda took three of my legs once." His rickety walk exemplified the lack of limbs. Instead of eight legs, he only had five. "I shall enjoy repaying my debts."

Sammael interjected. "Alive Torturer. And the other three too."

"Fine." The devil grunted before turning his attention back to the table in front of him.

For the first time the Sparda bloods saw what was on the table in front of them. It was Justin.

**************

Azazel looked at the three men. "Sammael." He said. When the Hound turned to him he continued, "I want you to leave me at least twelve Knights. I'll need some assistance for the time I have."

"Very well." Sammael jerked his head and ten knights and two berserkers joined the Torturer. Then with a bound, the Hellhound and his entourage left the dungeon.

Azazel cast a quick and practiced eye over the three again. Then he motioned to the devils with him.

"Strap that one on the table back up with his kin. You two," he motioned to two others, "take the youngest there and put him on."

"Don't you dare!" Vergil kicked his handler and jumped forward only to be caught with a vicious uppercut into his midsection by a Berserker.

Azazel gave him a critical look. "I've worked on you before, haven't I Vergil. That's why I'll leave you till next. But you'll still need softening up."

He gestured and three knights put down their weapons and, figuratively, rolled up their sleeves. Then they proceeded to beat the living daylights out of Vergil.

Dante moved to interfere, but he was grabbed and a fist slammed into his kidneys.

"How does it feel now half-breed?" Judicar whispered in his ear, before he kicked him in the crotch.

Another devil slashed his face with his claws, missing the eyes by only an inch, but peeling skin off like it was ribbon. Dante grimaced with the pain, but beyond he could see Nero struggling as they lashed him down and Azazel selected a finely honed scalpel.

"Let's start with smooth shall we?"

*************

Nero roared and screamed as Azazel slowly tore him to strips, then let him heal and started again. From the smooth edge of a scalpel he moved onto the serrated edge of a hacksaw blade, then onto pliers, a screwdriver, then poisons and serums. Each and every time Nero held himself back from telling anything. In fact, Azazel seemed not to be interested in anything they had to say, seeming to prefer just inflicting the maximum level of pain possible. With one quick slash, he sliced open Nero's stomach, then proceeded to prod through his intestines. Thrashing, Nero tried to escape, but the restraints held him down. Azazel muttered something and stopped.

"This one's at his limit. Strap him up with the others."

The devils on hand dragged Nero from the table, blood dripping constantly from the dozens of wounds he'd sustained. Dante and Vergil had both been beaten to within an inch of their lives, and it was Vergil that Azazel picked next.

"Hello again Vergil. I presume that you remember me." He leaned up close and showed him the bloody scalpel. "This time I will break you!"

Vergil merely spat in his eye. Azazel grunted in annoyance. "Your younger sibling did that, but it didn't deter me one whit boy. I will make you scream."

The elder twin made no response. Azazel rammed the scalpel into his stomach so hard it came out his back. Vergil's face contorted briefly, but he made no sound. From the scalpel to the hacksaw he sliced and diced and made incisions, but the Dark Slayer never made a sound. As Nero's gaping stomach wound slowly closed, hung as he was from the wall mountings, he couldn't but marvel at Vergil's control. Azazel sliced open his wrists and poured salt and vinegar into the cuts. Vergil's back arched in pain, but he kept his mouth shut. Azazel impaled him again, but still nothing. After what seemed a lifetime of beating and bleeding, torture at times beyond what was even imaginable, Azazel seemed to give up for the moment.

"Throw him up on the wall with the others. Give me the red one."

***********

"You know, some chicks really go for the whole S&M deal, but most of them prefer to be in charge so your present tactics aren't going to get you laid buddy."

The punch that Dante got nearly dislocated his jaw. "And you've got the worst bedside manner of any sawbones I've ever met."

Azazel chuckled darkly. "Keep jabbering fool, but I will make you sing." With that he plunged the dagger directly into Dante's heart.

Pain lanced through the Dark Knight as his vision went black. Surviving getting impaled was something that was innate in his physicality, but that didn't stop it from hurting like hell. But, then again, this was Hell. Then there was nothing.

************

Azazel smiled as he counted down silently. Then his patient groaned.

"Welcome back. How was your very own non existence?"

"Damn, that's the last face I'd want to wake up to."

Azazel smoothly placed his pliers on one of the hybrids fingernails, then ripped it out. Dante gave a short bark of pain before he regained control. A few seconds later, the bleeding stopped and another nail started to regrow.

"You hybrids are quite amazing."Azazel pulled out his scalpel and started to sliced the skin off the boy's chest. "You can take so much damage and yet it won't kill you. The boy over there," he indicated Nero, "I can understand, but you and your twin, not so much. You have no obvious separate power source. Most Devils would be forced to abandon their human guise and resort to their natural appearance, but you seem to not need that change. I wonder why?" Finished, he peeled back the skin, eliciting a spasm of pain from his captive.

"You know, I hope when you're dead that Mundus lets me I can dissect you properly. I'm dying to know what makes you tick."

Dante spat at him, but it fell short. Azazel smirked. "That's all?" he asked as he changed from a scalpel to a hacksaw and he prepared to start work on the boy's ribcage.

"All in all, I think maybe I should wait with this. After all, an autopsy's only good if it's done after the person is dead." He put the hacksaw down and then moved one of his liquids into reach. Picking it up, he checked to make sure that he had set the cap to spray, then sprayed the lot onto Dante's gaping chest wound.

*********

It felt like a million fire ants had just started chewing on his insides, slowly eating him piece by agonizing piece. Through vision blurred by pain he glimpsed Azazel standing there grinning. Dimly he registered what the Torturer was saying.

"I've just sprayed citric acid over your exposed ribcage. The solution isn't strong enough to kill you, but it'll keep you in absolute agony for a while. What will I do next? Perhaps I'll bleed you for a while, or maybe I'll remove a limb. But I'm not sure which of those would serve Mundus more, but I must admit, bleeding sounds a hell of a lot more interesting, don't you think?"

"That's enough for now Azazel."

Azazel halted, slipped down from the raised dias where he had his operating table and prostrated himself on the floor before his master.

"Lord Mundus."

***********

Mundus had decided to take human form while in the dungeon. In this form he resembled an older man, with a neatly trimmed white beard and groomed hair, red eyes as always and bearing a single ruby on a diadem on his forehead. For some reason he was dressed in a robe held around the waist with a plain belt and a long over robe held up in one hand. In all he was the complete picture of regal bearing and control. Few could guess that he was the ruler of the Underworld and not some old world politician. As if that wasn't enough, Mundus radiated power and control and everyone in the room was bowing to him. He slowly raised one hand and pointed it at the prisoners.

"Bring them to the throne room. I want to interrogate them myself."

* * *

For those of you with quick eyes, Azazel is both inspired by and based slightly on Azazel from Supernatural Seasons 1 and 2, or Yellow Eyes as he's sometimes called. One of my favorite villains of all time, plus the best demon in the show so far. I haven't yet seen season 5 though. As for the story, I will hopefully be doing another chapter soon. I already have in mind how the chapter will run and I have the first few lines written. Later folks


	35. Chapter 35

Just a little note to the reviewers. Thanks a million guys. I've always come across stories with more than a hundred reviews and now I've gotten to that stage as well. I'm thrilled that you like it. I've updated again, getting somewhat back to my old routine again, though I'm still having difficulting getting back into the swing of college again. But, here you are. Oh, by the way, the Angel's motto comes from Faust (used in V for Vendetta to such great effect) but the original is in Latin. It reads Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici. It's not strictly adapted in this, but closely enough. My thanks to Bluelady, SB-ED, YJ and SPoM for their reviews, and as well to anyone I may have missed. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

**A Diablolical Plan**

"Is everything prepared?"

"Sir. The troops are in position and we have sufficient air and artillery support to make a break like this. All the Honours, Powers and Glories are prepared."

"Excellent. With Mundus away from the front, and by all reports back in his own realm, this gives us the chance for a strike at the heart of his territory. The Temen ni Gru itself."

"Yes Primarch."

"Prince Reito, do not fail this task."

"By the power of Truth…"

"We conquer the universe. Courage and Godspeed."

*********

Six half dead bodies were dragged into the throne room. Mundus dropped the human guise, finally back in his proper haunt and took his seat.

"Lash them to those pillars." Gesturing, he indicated six blocky pillars in the centre of the room. They were roughly eight feet tall and two feet wide.

Dragging out huge, sinuous chains the guards wrapped the around the semi conscious hybrids and the comatose Hands. Mundus watched all of this with a slight smile on his monstrous face. Struggling the hybrids tried to break free, only to have their limbs nearly wrenched out of their sockets by the sudden tightening of the chains. All along the links, mouths opened and bit into the flesh of their captives.

"Knights, withdraw. I'll summon you again when I need you."

One or two of them devils attempted to protest, but they thought better of it and left. That left the Devil Emperor alone with his mortal enemies. There was a sudden and long silence, broken only by the sounds of the Vanguards and the Assaults, Frosts and Blades patrolled the perimeter. Dante furiously racked his brain as to the reason why the big bad boss demon wanted to talk to them privately.

*******

"I have to tell you, I really hate guys who gloat over their downed victims."

Mundus laughed, and the sound reverberated around the entire room, crashing down on the Sons of Sparda from where he was sitting.

"If you're looking for me to attack you and break you out of your chains, you're going to be waiting a long time."

"It was worth a shot."

"You act so much like your father boy. Arrogance and foolishness mixed together. I have no intention of doing anything except sitting here and watching you struggle."

For a short moment there was complete silence, then Mundus spoke again.

"I suppose you're wondering why I did all this?"

Dante tried to shrug. "Not really. You just want to cause as much pain and suffering as possible."

"I wasn't addressing you boy. Your twin has a much better grasp of Underworld politics than you have."

Vergil grimaced, not enjoying the reminder of that foolish era of his life. But he answered anyway. "Generally the Dark Emperor would only go to war if there was a significant advantage to be gained from it. For instance if his own position was becoming unstable, the use of war would be sufficient to gather most of his support back into a firm basis for himself. War is also a good means of disposing of troublemakers, while at the same time providing supporters with greater ranks. In short, Mundus needs to do a little housecleaning."

The Dark Emperor smiled, a malicious visage that would send shivers down the spines of most beholders.

"Almost."

********

"You would normally be right, Vergil, in fact you are mostly right. I do need to make my position more secure, that is certain, but that is not my main goal. How much do you know about Gods?"

That was a shocker to say the least. Dante, Vergil and Nero threw quick looks at one another. This conversation had just taken a completely unexpected turn.

"Oh come now. Certainly you must have learned something in all your history with them. Do you all not constantly seek further power from the Omnipotent God of Time and Space during all your battles?"

The title was given in a mocking tone and the three could pick up on a significant level of contempt for the very idea of the Gods. Mundus snapped.

"Wake the Hands."

Water gathered out of the air and splashed against the faces of the captives. With a splutter, followed by a deep groan of pain, Justin awoke followed by his two younger siblings.

"Aw Hell, are we in Hell again?"

"Shut it Ty."

Justin locked eyes with the demonic prince on his throne. "What do you want?"

"Just information Hand, nothing more, nothing less."

"Forget it."

"It's not for my benefit, you remember I was there at the beginning, it's for these uneducated half-breeds here. Tell them about the Gods and the laws they put into the world at its foundation."

Justin looked at them, sagged, licked his lips and began.

*********

"When the World was founded, the Gods created two particular races over all the others. One of these was to be a semi spiritual group of beings, the others based in the physical realm, but with a significant spiritual resonance. One were the humans, but the former were called the Navarin. This world is based upon a system of rules and principles that govern all the beings and the physical realm. To put it bluntly, this world depends on the Will of the Gods to survive. It is by their will that this world hangs in space and that the balance between life and death is maintained as well as gravity, mass constants and all other laws of the physical realm. While the Navarin were created to watch over this world and maintain it, performing acts such as maintaining magma flow and ferrying souls to the far side, the primary inhabitants of this planet were the humans. It is their world in both origin and destiny. Not to say that all humanity did not have a capacity for Sin, but Sin was held subservient to the power of the Gods, who regulated the power it could hold as well. This world is far from the oldest world in existence, in fact it is a younger world than most, but it is still considered somewhat inferior to other ones. However, that's not officially declared. But, it was during the so called Mythic Era, that one particularly powerful Spirit came to one of the most powerful of the Twelve Navarin Overseers. The Spirit gave no name, but he spoke words of lies and blasphemy to this particular Navarin. It said that its name was Breagador and that it knew the truth. The truth being that there was no such thing as Gods, merely more powerful spirits attempting to keep their lesser in check using this lie. Said Navarin believed this to be true and began to converse with its companions. Afteer much argument they split into two groups, one calling themselves the Free and the other the Faithful. But the reality was that Breagador had lied to them. The Gods put in their will and the Free, or the Rebels as they became known, fled to the Underworld, where unrepentant souls had been sent. Using these souls, they fashioned new bodies for them and proceeded to build an army. But, before they could strike against an unprepared world, the Gods caused chaos among them, dissension and strife. They fell apart into infighting and it was several centuries before one of them finally managed to gain control. His name was…"

**********

"Mundus."

The being in question sat back on his throne and smiled. "Very well told Hand. But you omitted several things."

Justin frowned. "I did?"

"Certainly. You failed to mention exactly why the Gods haven't showed up again."

Bitter laughter came from Ian. "Of all people Mundus, you should know why. It's because we exist."

Ty shook his head. "We'll stop you."

Mundus just looked at them as they struggled to free themselves. "Good luck with that."

Justin sighed as the futility of it all got to him. "The Gods cannot go against their own Will. They will not re-enter this World until they deem the time ready and the evil that was introduced will come to battle everything pure they placed here. Good and Evil, the final confrontation and the root of the evil will be purged and the physical will end."

"You're still forgetting something."

"What now?" Dante snarled at the Devil Lord. "The history lesson is all well and good, but it makes little to no sense."

"You're bringing about the end of the world and all that's going to happen is that the Gods are going to destroy you." Nero pointed out. Beside him Vergil was deep in thought.

"No, they won't."

"What?"

**********

"There is one flaw in the work of the Gods, and it is glaringly obvious. This world hinges on the Will, which was placed into it at the beginning. The Will which governs everything in the world, its beginning and its end. That is the specific part that stands out. Beginning a world is impossible without being a God already, one not only needs the ability to create, but also the ability to manipulate Universal Law, something which is impossible for a semi physical being to do. However, the worlds end hinges on two things, the balance reaching critical, and the appointed time. That is the link to the Will which Governs. It is akin to opening a time locked and temperature sensitive case. One specification may be met, but the other is not, so the box will not open. But, if the temperature is correct and a thief forces the time to match, then the contents of that box is his for the taking. Do you see what I'm saying?"

Mundus' gaze fell on the white faces of his prisoners. "I see that you do."

"You bastard!" Ty ground out.

Mundus laughed. "We have the same father Hand, do not blaspheme them."

"Damn you." Dante growled out.

"I've already been damned hybrid, I've no intent on being so again."

Vergil grimaced. "So that's your plan then. Bring on the apocalypse at your time of choosing and that'll allow you to gain access to the Will."

"Correct. The Will will allow me to remake the world in my own image, decide who will be allowed to remain and who will not. What species to keep and which to destroy. It will make me a God in truth."

"So that you'll get what Breagador told you you would huh?" Ian sneered.

Mundus laughed even louder. "Breagador? I never met the man. I was taught by my mentor" He grinned at Dante. "This guy here destroyed him, didn't you Dante. Surely you remember blowing the head off Argosax the Chaos?"

**********

Silence reigned as Mundus moved towards the doors of his palace. Suddenly he paused. "By the way Dante, I meant to ask. How's Trish doing these days? As good a ride as I designed her to be? You father always did have great taste in women."

"Don't you even mention her name you dick!"

"Well, I'll be certain to rectify that mistake the first chance I get. I've already promised that Arkham can have his daughter back and that Agnus can do what he likes to that choirgirl of Nero's, but you I want to torment myself."

"Mundus!" Justin shouted at him as Dante struggled and foamed at the mouth. "We'll get out of here and we'll stop you somehow!"

"I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you Hand. The moment you get out of here, which you will once the programming kicks in, you'll be forced to perform your duties as an Endbringer and summon Paradise to Earth. It's in your genetic code." Mundus paused and stooped so that his eyes were on the same level as Justin's. "I'm afraid I've already won boy. You never copped what was the point of all those Demonic human cults springing up all over the world? Cults like the Order of the Sword? The humans brought about their own destruction by giving themselves over to the darkness. Unrepentant souls brought Hell to them."

********

"Milord Mundus!"

It was the Knight, Judicar, who burst in with the cry.

"What?" Mundus was not entirely please with the interruption.

"Angelic forces have infiltrated the city and are assaulting our forces on all sides."

"Surely you can handle them."

"It's not just standard Legionnaires or Holites, your Majesty, there are also Honours, Powers and Glories with them. It's Prince Reito's personal Legion Sire."

Mundus muttered several different curses under his breath. "Reito, he just keeps being a thorn in my side doesn't he. Alright, I'm on my way." Judicar left and Mundus looked down at his prisoners. "Next time we meet you will be calling me Master. Until then."

And the six were alone once more.

* * *

I hope that little mindtrip of madness which is my planning worked somehow and you all got what I meant. If not, please let me know and I'll try to rephrase it. TTFN and stay tuned.


	36. Chapter 36

It's been a while since my last update. A thousand pardons begged. SPoM, Mundus is an asshole. He will get himself thrashed. Now more so. And since most of my other reviews were about updating the next chapter, here you go.

**

* * *

**

**An Unleashing**

No one spoke. The six had been returned to their dungeon after Mundus had finished with them; presently they were chained once more to the walls. Finally Dante broke the silence.

"What the hell?"

That pretty much summed it up for everyone. What Mundus had announced had frightened them all more than they cared to admit.

"Ah…" Vergil had decided to broach the subject, "You recall that speech about your duties being encoded into your DNA…"

"Once the critical point is reached we will go into what we call our "Endbringer" status and open the gates of Paradise onto Earth, in the process bringing the Underworld and the Overworld into physical being."

Ty looked at his brother. "Do you honestly have to sound like your giving a science lecture Ian?"

Ian tried to shrug, but the only result was the chains linked around him bit deeper into his flesh. He winced. "It's a quirk."

Nero looked at the last member of the group who was deep in thought."Justin. Is there a way to stop Mundus?"

The Eldest Hand shook his head slightly, still not looking up. "Not that I know of."

"So basically," Dante interrupted, "we're screwed."

"In a nutshell, yes. And we haven't got much time left either."

Everyone looked at him with dread. Justin looked up. "What? Come on. Ty, Ian, you can sense it, can't you? Good and Evil drawing the lines in the sand for their fight. Even as we speak, several Angel Knights and Powers are turning on their human charges, while Devil Knights and several others are switching sides to stop their mad king. This domain is splitting in two. The hour is almost upon us and our true purpose is about to be called."

******

Silence once more fell on the dungeon.

"You know," Ty started, "I didn't want to charge that army head on back there. I really had a bad feeling about it and all, but you insisted on it Justin and look where we are now!"

"I really think blaming me for all of this is completely irrelevant…"

"I think we should blame Vergil for resurrecting the Temen ni Gru in the first place…" began Ian, only to have Nero cut across him

"Or we could just blame the Order of the Sword for forging a cult in the first place."

Dante added his two cents. "Or you three for not doing your jobs properly."  
"What!"

"You cannot be serious."

"Yeah this wouldn't have started at all without your mess ups."

"What do you know?"

"Enough!" stated Vergil loud enough to be heard over the noise. "You're giving me a headache. It doesn't matter whose fault it was, the point is it happened. Now we have to try and deal with the problem, so focus on that for a change."

There was a grunt from outside the chamber which sounded like a "Shut up in there." From the guards, but the six ignored them.

******

Then the screams started, faint at first, but getting louder and more terrified. Following them came the muffled dulcet tones of gunshots, which were interspersed with the screams and disjointed. Whatever was the cause, it was tearing swathes through the armies of the Underworld. Thunder sounded as all around the chamber the sounds of fleeing feet raced and whooshed. The screams increased in volume. Whatever it was it was headed straight for the chamber. The crash of something huge collapsing echoed through the chamber. Quick glances exchanged by the six were speculative.  
"What the hell is that?"

"Whatever it is, it's headed this way."

"I think we'd all figured that out already kid."

"It feels somewhat familiar."

Everyone looked at Ian in a weird fashion.

"What?" he asked.

******

They were interrupted by the guards from outside, all twenty of them, crowded into the chamber.

"Barricade the doors, keep that thing out!"

There was an unmistakable trace of fear in the voice of the Knight as he also threw several of the torture rods across the door.

Then everyone felt it, the new presence had halted outside the door. The guards all stepped away from the barred entryway. A resounding boom sounded through the chamber. Gaping, the prisoners watched as the massive iron and ironwood door shook and threw a cloud of dust into the room. Swords came into view, along with axes and scythe blades and whatever else the guards were armed with, as they prepared themselves to face whatever came through the doors. Another boom as a massive forces struck the door as second time. On the third blow, one of the guards whimpered as the door cracked. Straining off its hinges, the door couldn't take much more of this.

******

Then it stopped. Silence reigned. All of them could still feel the presence outside the door, but it was not coming on. Tense moments passed. But the presence seemed to give up and moved off. There was an audible sigh of relief from the guards as they relaxed.

"Thank the Gods!" Judicar moaned as he dropped his sword on the ground.

"What was that thing?" One of the other guards asked. His fellow answered him.

"Whatever it was, it wasn't anything I've ever faced before."

"Was it a God?"

The question stunned everyone into silence, before Judicar gave a bitter laugh.

"No kid, if it had been a God, we wouldn't have even gotten warning. They'd have passed through here without making a sound and we'd all be ash right now."

The silence continued.

"Are you sure it isn't coming back?"

"At the moment, we still don't know what it's after so we'll try and prevent it getting to the prisoners."

******

At that moment the ceiling exploded. Lumps of stone and iron, enchanted or not, rained down on the occupants. One huge lump of granite slammed into the head of one of the Berserkers in the room and it crushed it like a watermelon. In the midst of it all this noise and confusion It landed in the room. Obscured by smoke for a moment, Judicar whirled, his sword being drawn from its scabbard in a moment, but he found a barrel being shoved under his nose. The blast removed most of his head. From the cloud of dust came the rattling double clack of a shotgun being pumped. As soon as the first devil moved that blast blew him several feet backwards, then the next was quickly loaded and fired. This shot managed to send another to his knees. But by that stage the guards had worked out that if they charged en mass, then they had a better chance of tackling the attacker. It seemed to notice this and slid the short, sawn off shotgun back over Its shoulder and pulled out two pistols which had been strapped to Its thighs. There was something vaguely familiar about that action that was trying to grab Dante's brain, but he was too much in awe of the way that It targeted each one of the guards and put a single shot through each of their heads. Those silver revolvers never missed, but however fast It was, a couple of demons got through. Like lightning, It holstered the revolvers and drew a long sabre. Said blade flashed once, twice, three times and there was a sudden silence. It turned to the captives.

******

Now that Dante had a good look at It, it was plainly female, but dangerously so. Atop the head was a ceratopsian frill, the face was golden eyed with the nose and mouth covered with armour. Curling over her torso was vine-like armour, twisting in such a way that it followed the natural shape of her body and bound over her shoulders while plating down her thighs. From the centre of the chest a powerful golden light glowed, offsetting the silver colouring of the rest of her appearance. Out of her back came six wings, one set avian, one set chiropteran and the last set insectoid. Her fingers were clawed and she bore ridged gauntlets and pauldrons. One her feet were armoured boots and greaves covered her legs. A short shotgun was slung on her back, hanging between her wings and a pair of pistols, engraved and silver coloured hung at her sides. In her hand was a silver glowing sabre. The nose and mouth armour vanished and a fanged mouth smiled at them. With that smile, there was a sudden outpouring of silver light, getting at one point so bright that it nearly blinded the prisoners. As the Hand finished wrapping her power away, the men strapped up to the pillars gaped at her. Or at least, the men with Sparda's blood gaped.

"Been a long time," Liv Sylvase said, "hasn't it, brothers?"

******

Liv was wearing a long silver tailed coat that was buttoned across her chest, tall black boots that came up to her knees and grey trousers. Her brown hair, which had changed from her ceratopsian frill, hung down across her shoulders easily. Her eyes, however, remained golden orbs of fire.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten me?" she asked.

"Don't even joke about things like that sis, why didn't you ever call?" Ty burst out.

Liv shook her head and walked over. "Didn't know what to say."

Ian struggled fruitlessly for moment. "A simple 'hello, I'm alright' would have sufficed."

"I was highly strung at the time Vespasian."

By this stage the Sons were still gaping.

Liv stepped forward and sliced through the Ian's and Ty's bonds. The Hands sword made easy work of the chains, cutting through them with an ease born of years of practice.

"Sis, you showed up at just the right time." Ty bounded up and hugged her, swinging her around in the air.

Ian seconded that motion. "Although, you didn't have to use my full name." he pointed out.

Liv turned to her older brother and silence fell. Justin looked at her for a moment before she cut his bonds. Noiselessly Justin dropped to his feet and his wounds closed up. The tension in the air was palpable. The two of them just looked at one another. That argument had been between the two of them, the split had been between them and it all came down to whether or not they were willing to apologise to one another. Finally tears started to run from the corners of Liv's eyes.

"I'm sorry Justin." She bent her head as a century's worth of pain began to pour out of her. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have questioned you like that, I shouldn't have run off and never come back. This is all my fault!"

Justin shook his head and reached out to her. "No, it's mine." He murmured as he pulled her to him and let her cry on his chest. "Whatever happens, you're my sister and my responsibility. I should have listened to you." As she sobbed harder he said, "You were right all along you know. I didn't realise it at the time, but what you'd said made perfect sense."

"About understanding humans?" Liv tried to laugh through her tears, "That made little to no sense. I was just being rebellious."

Justin smiled. "It made perfect sense to me. I've done my best, but it looks like it wasn't enough."

******

"Hey," Ty interrupted with a grin, "remember you've got two other siblings apart from this lunkhead here."

Liv laughed and threw her arms around him, then dragged Ian, or Vespasian as his full name was, into the grip.

As all this was happening, Dante turned to his twin and said, in a quiet voice, "So they're related?"

"It would seem that way, yes." Replied his blue clad twin.

"What're the odds?"

"It does make sense the more you think about it. She knew so much about them, the bitterness in her voice when she talked about them, those pistols and her age."

"Plus the fact that she looks like him." Nero threw in.

"We can see that now Nero." Dante ground out, slightly annoyed that the dork was right after all.

Vergil smirked at the exchange. "To be honest I never noticed that either Nero. Hindsight is amazing after all."

Justin seemed to notice that the Sons of Sparda at that point. "Hey Liv, we'd best get those three down."

Liv smirked and began to walk forward, drawing her sabre as she did so. "Hey Justin, did you know that Dante once made a pass at me?"

Justin glared at Dante who tried to shrink back into the stone. "Did he now? Well I'll be having a word with him after this is over."

"Hey," Dante spluttered, "it was harmless!"

"I'll be the judge of that you cheating ba…."

******

All four of the Hands froze. There was dead silence as their eyes widened.

"Guys?" Nero asked.

There was an explosion of power. The force of it was so strong that it nearly tore the pillars from their foundations. Inside the epicentre of the blast, four Hands began to change. Liv dropped her human form and her war armour and visage sprang back into place. Ian and Ty had identical changes due to their twin nature, though one was black and the other green. From their heads sprouted two separate horns, curling up and back until they finished pointing up. Six wings, the same as Liv's sprouted from their backs. Heavy plate armour appeared on their torsos, legs and arms, but they lacked both the vinework finish and the ridges that marked Liv's. These were machines of war bred for speed and power. The armour finished off with the golden glow that sprang from their breastplates and the Sons could see now that it came from a set of runes that marked them as the Weapons of Fate. All four had their eyes turn golden, but Justin's transformation was the most marked of all. Two horns sprang up, five down, seven in total. His chest armoured scales were segmented in five parts over his stomach, allowing for a greater level of movement. Over his shoulders were segmented shoulder guard pauldrons that also sloped up over his back, covering the six wings from overhead attacks. His upper arms were protected by rerebraces, unadorned, but the vambrace-guantlet pieces had six ridged edges on it that could double as bladed weapons. His legs were protected by a set of cuisse and greaves which melded into a sort of boot that covered his feet. They were tipped with razor sharp edges. The entire ensemble, save for this golden marking in the centre, was blue. White highlights and tracing decorated the armour, as it did with the other three. But whereas Liv was designed for speed and the twins were designed for utilising their reflexes, Justin was designed for power and might. All of his strength was finally released and it was nearly overwhelming.

******

Drawing his sidearm, which melted into his armour, elongating into a cannon, Justin pointed it straight up. The blast it produced, a solid beam of energy, cut through the walls like paper. The way out was clear. Looking back down, the Hands faced one another.

"This is the End of all struggles. Paradise is coming!"

Four sets of six wings beat, and the four were gone, gone to bring on the Apocalypse.

* * *

Bet you never saw that reveal coming. If you did, then congrats.


	37. Chapter 37

Anyways, I've been too long without uploading. In any case, I've been struggling with a little writers block. On the flip side, I may be starting on my first pro project. Which is great. But, here you are.

* * *

**A Release**

The city of Capulet was in chaos. Everywhere one looked there were angels and demons battling it out, as well as a few angels against angels and demons against demons. The Legion of Prince Reito were heavily engaged with the forces of the Underworld in the midst of downtown. Honours, Powers and Glories were the ultimate of the angelic specialised soldiers. Against them none could prevail. Well, almost none, thought Mundus as he crushed several underfoot. The Dark Emperor was, for the first time in a long time, fighting on the front lines. From his third eye sprang a beam that cut through the ground forces, turning them to white dust in the blink of an eye. An Angel Knight flew at him, but Mundus responded with three bolts that pinned him to a wall. Swinging a fist, Mundus then reduced him to paste. Then from across the cityscape he saw him. Reito was in full flight straight at him, his speed causing the air around him to ignite in a righteous blaze that consumed even his own troops in his wake. Mundus barely had time to summon a sword to defend himself when the Angel and the Devil clashed. Through the rain of fire as their weapons gritted across each other the Prince gave a smug grin.

"See what your arrogance is costing you Mundus? My troops will have cut out your centre right from under your feet. Once your centre of operations is sealed once more, we will have won. The last time you and I fought was eight or so millennia ago. Have you gotten any stronger?"

Mundus laughed as he thrust back his opponent with a powerful swing. Spaced several city blocks apart the two warlords looked at one another as he replied, "Have I gotten any stronger? I rather think I have, that and the fact that you have gotten weaker. You speak of my arrogance as if it were the only thing in this world that could hold that title, but you fail to see that your own arrogance is far, far worse."

Mundus snapped his fingers and a portal opened in the air. From it spilled troops by the dozen as Mundus committed his reserves. But even then, the Devil Emperor halted. Was this all he had in reserve? He was certain that there were more than just this pititful handful of troops left. Where were the legions under the command of Acheron and Trevas? Mundus frowned, something was up. If they had defected…

He was cut off by Reito throwing himself at him.

.

.

The battle continued, the angels finding themselves much harder pressed to defend themselves against the much greater numbers of the demons. For every five a Glory dropped, ten rose to take their place. In the centre of the city demonic and angelic snipers cut across each other, dropping them like flies as they peppered arrows and barbs across the divide. Angel Knights and Archangels hunted down worthy targets and battled them to the death. In the middle of the entire slaughter, two of the oldest and most powerful beings in the world slugged it out with sword and fist. It was at that point that they were interrupted.

.

.

The top of the Temen ni Gru shattered. Pieces of massive stone flew everywhere as the building broke apart from the inside. Four streaks of light emerged from the top. Burning with a holy fire that caused the air about them to warp with its intensity, the four Hands of the Gods rose to their full strength. All eyes followed them as they, almost lazily, flew across the city, dropping down within the area of the two battling superpowers. Despite being so much shorter than the Prince and the Emperor, they still managed to give off a level of power that was greater than theirs.

"Greetings, my lords."

Justin's voice was a mockery as he spoke to those who were his underlings at this point in time. "It's been some time has it not?"

Reito's voice was steady as he replied, "Very long. I had not thought that you would be needed in this war. We have already nearly won it."

Justin laughed. "You are fools. I am the Hand of the Gods and they have decided when to end this world."

He raised a hand and flicked it. The other three took off like rockets, their speed increasing until five sharp cracks echoed through the sky.

"You are of course, all expected to attend the arrival of the Gods." Justin's armoured covered his mouth and his laughed took on a reverberating, menacing tone as his wings blurred. Rising steadily, he shot forward with a crash of thunder. For several minutes there was dead silence as the armies were too amazed to react.

Reito reacted first. "You!" he pointed to a Knight nearby, "Keep a force of six hundred here. Secure the area and then await further instructions. The rest of you are with me!" He also took flight, vanishing into the sky after the Hand.

Not to be outdone, Mundus snapped at one of his Generals. "Keep six hundred here and draw off around the tower. Do not engage the enemy. Come on!" he turned his back on his forces and muttered, "I have a date with destiny."

.

.

On a small rise overlooking the city, two motorcyclists waited and watched.

"Is it just me, or did we just get a perfect window of opportunity?"

"It's not just you. We did. This is weird though." Lady took down her binoculars and looked at her blonde companion.

"Let's get to it then. Whatever those three are up to, we've got to find out why our besiegers suddenly vanished."

Lady shuddered slightly. Everyone was still cooped up in the castle, but they'd awoken the previous morning just to find the entire army arrayed against them completely eradicated, their carcasses turned to ashes, scattering on the winds. What had followed was a tentative recon by the Devil Hunters who'd concluded that there were no more demons left within the vicinity. The two women had decided to scout, as they were the most experienced. Now they were prowling around the fringes of the city, watching the movements of the occupants. The sudden departure of the demon army had been something of a shock.

"We need to get down there and take a look."

"Should we do it the normal way or stealthily?"

Trish shot a glance at her raven haired companion. Lady shrugged. "Stealthy it is then."

.

.

Back in the dungeon, Vergil began to laugh helplessly. Dante frowned at his twin.

"Great!" He growled in Nero's direction, "He's cracked again! Now all I'm going to hear is, 'without power one cannot protect anything, even oneself' or some power hungry mumbo jumbo along those lines."

Nero grimaced. "Thanks for that. Now all I have to worry about, while I'm waiting to die by the way, is the two of you suddenly deciding you need to fight to the death while chained up. Perfect."

Vergil stopped laughing. "You do realise that we're going to experience the ending of life as we know it while we're chained to a wall. There's nothing we can do about it."

"That's not really that funny man."

"Just ironic in my opinion."

"Your opinion sucks."

"Hardly."

There was a creak as what remained of the door opened. Several figures slipped through and checked behind them.

"What the hell?" Nero asked.

.

.

"This is dangerous Agnus!" Acheron scowled at their leader.

"Do you want to survive this war?"

The devil growled in anger. Agnus, wearing his human form once again, walked quickly and swiftly up to the three bound captives. The Sons of Sparda watched him warily.

"I've never liked you Agnus, I'm sure you're aware of this." Trevas levelled his gaze at the alchemist, "so the fact that we are in this does not mean that we won't kill you the moment we get a chance."

Agnus spun. "I-I-I don't care! This is necessary, no matter how you look at it.!" He pointed at Dante with one quavering finger. "Only two beings have ever beaten Mundus in open combat. One is dead and the other one is right in front of us."

"I know why we're doing this you idiot." Acheron ground out, "Just don't think we're going to let him walk out of here. For all we know, he might go along with the old fool."

Vergil's head snapped up. "I get it. You are rebels."

The three devils looked at him. Then at each other.

Finally Trevas spoke. "Yes, we are. Mundus has gone insane, this is too much. So we've withdrawn our support for him. But to beat him, we need you." He pointed at Dante.

Dante shook his head. "All three of us."

"No can do Devil boy." Acheron piped up. "Just you. As far as we're concerned, you're just as much of a threat as Mundus is. The last thing we need is your comrades running amok and damaging our plans."

"All three of us, or I'll let the world rot."

Agnus walked up to him. Leaning in so that they were within whispering distance, Agnus muttered, "We've already completely vanquished the army besieging your fortress. You're comrades and women are safe. We've done something for you, now we need you to find Mundus and prevent him from seizing power. If he does, we're all dead. He'll turn your precious humans into puppets and dance them on strings. And he'll be unstoppable. You won't get another chance." His tone turned persuasive. "Right now he thinks you're still locked up. Use this chance and you'll have a free shot at him."

Dante fixed him on his expressionless gaze. Within the depths of his eyes, the true power of a full Sparda's blood manifested itself. Agnus could see true death and despair in those eyes. "If you've done that, then you need not worry about Nero and Vergil. But Mundus stated that you'd demanded Kyrie as bait for joining him. Nero will kill you for that."

Agnus, turned his face away, his eyes never leaving those cold ones glaring at him. "Nero, I have no claim on Kyrie's life. She is safe. The army besieging Tartarus is decimated and scattered on the winds. She is in no danger."

"Except from Mundus." Vergil muttered aloud.

.

.

"We've got a deal."

Trevas and Acheron swiped with their weapons and the locks were broken.

"Then you all shall be the instruments of our salvation."

* * *

Ah, the plot has thickened even more. Intriguin. Can't promise that the next chapter will be up anytime soon, so just bear with me please.


	38. Chapter 38

Another chapter. Up quicker than the last. The sky is falling and pigs are flying I'm sure. But tis still here. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter. The Sparda's are out and running. Let's see how long it lasts.

* * *

**An Infiltration**

A pair of grey-blue eyes peeked over the edge of the shattered stone. Inside, two Abysses were looking down into the abyss which led to the Underworld. It was from there that the four Hands had smashed their way out. Briefly the owner of the eyes contemplated kicking them off the edge, but their screams might alert others. He looked over at one of his companions, held up two fingers, then gave a grabbing motion. The other nodded, then slid his sleeve up his right arm, showing off the brightly glowing demonic flesh underneath it. Briefly the eyes looked over the edge again, but the Abysses were oblivious to the blue highlights that sparkled off the wall behind them. He gave the go ahead. Nero whipped his arm up and reached out, grabbing the two demons before they even knew what was going on, dragging them towards the little hideout. Once there, they were met with the swinging blade of a slender katana. Headless the two demons fell, dissolving into blood as they did so.

.

.

"That makes it ten now." Vergil noted, cleaning Yamato with a swipe, then sheathing it again.

Nero was a little more visibly put out. "There should be more than that here. We ought to be fighting our way through hundreds."

Dante was already moving over to where he could see out of the tower and into the city below. It was still smoking, but quiet enough. "It's far too quiet. Mundus shouldn't be too far from here."

"With his size he should be easy to spot him." Vergil commented. He joined his twin at the edge. For a moment he paused. "Can you smell that?"

"What? I can't smell anything."

"Exactly. We should be able to smell the scent of a just passed battle."

Nero joined them. "Can you feel that? The weight in the air, it's far away, but it's still there."

"I can." The twins answered simultaneously.

"But before we get to that, we need to get out of this city." Vergil pointed out.

Dante pointed, and the other two followed his eyes, down to the city below. There were still dozens of demons and angels moving through the city, though they were avoiding one another. "We'll need to avoid combat with them as much as possible. Agnus didn't say how many were on his side in this. We could still end up fighting a lot of enemies."

Vergil smiled. "How do we get down? The way we always did?"

Dante grinned in response. "Why not! We avoid fighting anymore of the guards and we get down to street level quickly."

Nero was a little perturbed by the slightly malevolent smiles they were. "What are you planning guys?" he asked slowly.

"Do as we do, Nero." Dante called back as the two of them walked up to the edge. Looking down Dante turned to his twin. "Race you."

Vergil twisted his head to look back at him. "You're on."

Then they jumped.

.

.

Falling like bricks, the twin devils levelled themselves off and dropped straight down. Nero, groaning, jumped after them. Since the tower went at a slightly oblique angle, the three had to be aware of the slope getting closer to them. When it was in reach, they slipped into a forwards roll and started running. Now they were really flying down. Nero caught up with them and the three ran faster and faster, air pressure slowly starting to build up around them as they went. Of course, the ground was getting closer and closer and this time there was no Leviathan to catch them. Not to worry though, thinking on the fly, as it were, was Dante's speciality. Slightly gaining speed, the Dark Knight went in front. Jumping away from the tower, Dante triggered for a moment, allowing his wings to slow his fall perfectly. Vergil followed suit, while Nero just extended the Devil Bringer into the wall to slow his fall. The three of them landed in crouches, ears straining to hear the sound of pursuit. Nothing, which was just as well as any demon within a hundred miles was probably coming this way right now. Fortunately for them, no sound of pursuit meant that the demons weren't within catching range. The three quickly changed pace and hurried into the dark streets.

.

.

Lady, looked carefully around the corner. Quickly she jerked back.

"Demons?" Trish asked quietly.

"Nope, angels."

Two unknown types of angels were standing at the far end of the road. They were tall, their heavily armoured forms wingless and corded with muscle. Each of them carried a double ended spear, with a wide blade on either end. They were obviously elite troops.

"So do we engage, sneak around or distract?"

"We avoid if at all possible."

"Easy?"

Lady looked back around the corner. The two angels appeared to be in conversation. At least, that's what she assumed from the way their heads were moving. They certainly weren't actively watching the road. Still. "I don't think so."

Trish was a little annoyed by this. The extra sneaking part was due to her, as zealous angels were not the best when it came to convincing them she wasn't a threat. They saw demon and that was all. "Right then, we do it sneaky."

.

.

Trish picked up a length of timber, fallen from a ruined building, hefted it, then threw it as far as she could over the heads of the angels. As it clattered on the ground, the two of them whipped their heads sideways and glared in that direction. As soon as Trish had thrown the beam, the two women had been moving forward. As soon as it landed, they'd broken into a sprint. Of course, this was two of the Devil May Cry team. Naturally, things didn't go their way. Lady tripped. Falling flat on her stomach, the woman had only enough time to roll into a pit in the road from where some powerful demon had landed. The two angels looked back around. For a moment the two women stood stock still. Then the two angels started walking forward.

Lady was running through multiple scenarios in her head, ranging from where she pleaded that she was a displaced citizen, then another where she fought them. In truth, none of them seemed to fit. All the while, the two angels were getting closer. Lady cast a glance over to Kalina Ann. The massive bazooka lying off to one side, almost unreachable, which meant if it came down to a fight, she'd have nothing but her guns to rely on. Steadying herself, Lady braced for her discovery. Trish was readying her hand for a fistful of electricity to fire at the two. She could take them, she was pretty sure of that, but the problem was that Lady was out of reach and in the line of fire. This was getting very serious, very quickly.

.

.

"Hey!"

The two angels halted, looking up at the figure standing on the roof gable glaring down at them. Both women joined in.

"Dante?"

It was he, the red clad demon slayer, one foot on the Gable edge, one hand on his knee. Up beside him came two blue clad fighters, one dark, one light.

"Vergil?" Lady added.

"Nero?" Trish had finally walked out into the street. "What are you guys doing here?"

"That's a nice way to address those who've come to save your lives."

The angels turned their full attention to the three. "What are you three doing here? Last we knew you were in Hell."

Dante shrugged. "We got out."

Both angels looked at each other. "That really shouldn't be possible. You were being kept in a fortress that we've not been ever able to assail."

"Call us lucky." Nero smirked.

"Or just skilled." Vergil countered.

Both angels unhitched their spears from their backs. "You're still not permitted to be in this area."

"Oh, don't mind us. We were just leaving."

.

.

Dante, Vergil and Nero jumped from the roof, over the heads of the angelic warriors and landed squarely on the ground. Vergil reached down and offered and hand, which Lady gratefully accepted. Dante beckoned Trish over and pulled her slightly behind him. Nero quickly took stock of any cars nearby.

"See you round."

Dante barely turned before both angels moved at a speed he could barely follow and phased into view in front of him.

"Not so fast."

They levelled their weapons.

Dante groaned. "Trust me guys. I'm more than you can handle. So are the other two. Hell, even the girls are more than you can handle."

"Hey!" Lady was indignant.

"We'll take our chances."

Dante sighed. Then he stretched. His back cracked, his joints creaked and his breath puffed out in one big huff. Wincing, he twisted one shoulder, then the next, both times feeling the kinks bite into him. He rotated his neck, feeling each and every crack that sounded. Then quick as lightning he drew both pistols and shot the angels in the head.

Everyone gaped as he twirled both, flicked back his coat tails and holstered them.

"Oh yeah. I still got it."

Then they heard the sound. Footsteps, dozens of them, hundreds of them, all of them headed in that direction.

"Nero, you'd better have a car!"

"Relax!" Nero shouted from a car he'd just started. "We're good to go."

"Right." Vergil led the way. "Let's get moving. We've got four hardwired planet killers to catch."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it. You can be sure that the guys are going after the Hands, which means we are approaching the final showdown. Hang onto your seats.


End file.
